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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064789">A Little Slice of Heaven</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonStoneWorks/pseuds/MoonStoneWorks'>MoonStoneWorks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:41:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,449</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064789</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonStoneWorks/pseuds/MoonStoneWorks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marlene King has been dealing with the fallout of the Second Wizarding War for the past three years and has come home, finally ready to pick up those pesky remaining pieces of herself but she needs the help of her friends. Trying to make new out of old, and the best out of a crappy situation, Marlene slowly finds her way in the Wizarding World once again. </p><p>~</p><p>I do not own any of the characters associated with the Harry Potter Franchise, those characters are owned by JK Rowling. The only characters I do own are those of my own invention.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. New Old Beginnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been three years since the end of the second Wizarding War and since the fall of Voldemort and while some people seemed to move on with their lives without a second thought, others were still trying desperately to pick up the pieces of their life that had been left behind in the aftermath of it all.</p><p>              Marlene King was one of those people.</p><p>              Before the war Marlene had been ambitious, she had so many things she wanted to achieve in her life and was on course to get it all. She was born to two muggle parents, William and Ruby, in the West of Scotland, growing up surrounded by cows and sheep and not very many people her own age to talk to. When she turned eleven her entire life changed, and she was thrust into the world of magic. Being the first witch in her family for at least one hundred years, William and Ruby were rightfully shocked and slightly confused but were nothing but supportive of their daughter. They bought every book they could on raising a magical child, spoke with other Muggle parents with children like Marlene and even sold their property so they could buy an empty shop in the middle of Diagon Alley, which they turned into a café named 'Marley's Crumbles' so they could interact with magical people and learn more about that part of their daughter's life.</p><p>              During the rise of Voldemort, Marlene begged her parents to leave and go find safety elsewhere because of the danger they were in, but they refused, saying that they were going to fight along with the rest of their friends and for her.</p><p>              Marlene was on the run when she found out about the raids on Diagon Alley. It was posted on the front page of the Quibbler that she found. Her hands shook as she read about how Death Eaters swarmed the alley, pulling out wizards and witches from their shops and torturing them for information and most likely their own sick, twisted enjoyment, but she saw no mention of her parents. It wasn't until she had managed to find her way to the Burrow to look for safety in the family she had found in the Weasleys. Mr Weasley, who had been a regular customer at the café for years and a friend of Williams was the one to break the news to her of their death. Apparently, he had turned up to the café the day after the last raid to check on them only to find William and Ruby slouched over a table and staring blankly at half-empty teacups.</p><p>              On May second of 1998, she fought alongside her friends at the battle of Hogwarts. She stood beside the other members of Dumbledore's Army, wands raised and she fought until Voldemort's body fell to the ground, signifying the end of their suffering. Or so she thought.</p><p>              For almost three years Marlene did everything she could to try and piece herself together again, bit by bit, slowly but surely, but she was still left with the memories of what had happened to them. She tried for a while to put these pieces back together at home with the help of her family but soon she realised that these were not pieces that someone else could glue back together for her, she had to do it for herself. So, she packed everything she could that would fit into her bag and she took off for Amsterdam, leaving everything behind, even the people she loved most.</p><p>              She spent months bouncing around from country to country, picking up a piece wherever she went and filled her time with odd jobs to make ends meet until January of 1999 when she paid a visit to an old friend in Romania – Charlie Weasley.</p><p>              Charlie and Marlene were an unlikely pair, he was six years older than her and already out of school when he met her but their mutual love for all things magical creatures meant that they became fast friends, much like how Marlene had become with most of the Weasley children. They wrote throughout Marlene's school years, were the first two to be in a fight over Christmas dinner and were even partnered up for a dance at Charlie's brother Bill's wedding when it came to the bride and groom's families being pulled up onto the dance floor. They spent that entire dance laughing hysterically and stepping on each other's toes. They formed an unlikely bond and were so close that when Marlene turned up at the mouth of his tent at the Dragon Sanctuary, covered in snow and sobbing, he was more than happy to bring her in.</p><p>              She spent two years in Romania with Charlie along with a constant carousel of people which meant that although she was never lonely, she was also never able to get close enough to anyone for it to hurt when they left. Just the way she liked it.</p><p>              Once those two years had passed and Marlene had picked up all that she could of herself, she decided it was time to say her goodbye's once more and move on again. Except this time she didn't end up in some far off country or in the middle of a jungle. She landed back in London at the doorstep of her parent's old café.</p><p>              When she had left Marlene had left the café behind too. It remained empty and boarded up, one of the last to be left that way Marlene guessed because when she looked around everywhere else had seemed to have rebuilt itself. Marley's Crumbles, however, was only a shadow of its former self.</p><p>              The soft baby pink paint that had covered the outside of the café was peeling back to reveal the luminescent orange that Ruby had hated so much and the gold lettering that once curved above the door had almost completely disappeared, leaving only the letters 'M L Y B E' behind.</p><p>              As a child whenever Marlene would walk through the café she would be met with the mouth-watering smells of whatever sweet treats her mum had been making that day but now when she opened the door her nostrils were flooded with the smell of damp and dust, while the bell that she had once heard so often ring loud throughout the café, now was rusted and rang feebly. The slivers of light that crept through the slits in the wood that covered the windows made the vibrant teal walls look dull and cast jagged shadows across the smiling faces of happy customers in their broken frames along the walls. The muggle till that William had insisted on using sat undisturbed on the walnut counter but was covered in a thick layer of dust just like everything else was. Tabletops were littered with abandoned menu cards, sugar packets, napkins, everything that hadn't been worth taking by the snatchers who came looking for scraps after the Death Eaters had gotten the first bite. Chairs lay on their backs upturned; the remnants of forgotten dishes lay shattered on the checker-board floor in tiny shards that shot across the room whenever Marlene accidentally kicked one with her boot, and there was no trace of the childhood she had within those walls.</p><p>              Carefully Marlene made her way through the rest of the building, memories rolling in like waves with every new area her eyes landed on. Every time she wanted to stop and turnback she forced herself to keep moving, even though she felt as though she was in some sort of horror movie and was walking to her certain death.</p><p>              "Fuck," she muttered when she reached the hallway that led to the back office where her Dad used to do most of his work.</p><p>              She stepped over pieces of the splintered door that had once been attached to its hinges in the doorway and ran her palms over the diamond-patterned wallpaper that had peeled itself away from the plaster as she passed. The office itself was probably the worst part of the whole building. The large desk that she had seen her father hunched over countless times sat in two halves, each on opposite sides to the room, papers and crumpled photos were strewn across the floor, drawers half open and empty, the safe was gone, William's books looked as though they had been blown off their shelves, large black scorch marks stained their covers, and the words 'Filthy Muggles' had been carved into the wall beside the door.</p><p>              With shaking legs Marlene ascended the golden spiral staircase that tucked itself in the corner of the office that lead up to the area above that had been turned into a flat. Much like the café below, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and the debris that had been left behind.</p><p>              The glass from shattered photo frames crunched loudly under Marlene's every step, their photos lay stationary on the floor, scattered around as though they were the confetti the Death Eaters threw when they celebrated killing her parents. The breakfast table which she had spent many afternoons sat at finishing essays and eating her mother's cooking now lay on its side, two of its legs snapped in half and nowhere to be seen. The shredded remains of the checked couch cushions hung from lampshades and shelves and their stuffing looked like miniature clouds that dotted the living room floor.</p><p>              As Marlene forced herself to take it all in for the first time every inch of her twitched with the urge to run away again and the feeling became overwhelming. Her fingertips burned as they glided over dusty surfaces and her chest tightened while every nerve in her body began to scream at her to get out. No one knew she had come back yet. There was still time for her to run. She had already being doing it for four years so what was a few more? She could go to Africa or back to America, no one would ever know. But she couldn't. She knew that. She had picked up so many pieces of herself but there were some that had to be fixed at home. There were so many people she had left behind, a life that she had loved, and if she truly wanted to ever feel whole again, she had to stay.</p><p>              Over the next few weeks, Marlene got to work on the flat. If she was going to stay then she was going to make sure that things were going to be different. She was going to make new out of the old and that started with pulling every inch of wallpaper down, repainting every wall, and ridding the place of every single thing that acted as a reminder to her of what once was.</p><p>              By the end of her rampage, Marlene had achieved what she had set out to do. Gone were the dull greys and beiges that her mother decorated with when they first moved in; the bricks of the living room were now white and the room was teeming with bundles of greenery which she had bought in excess during her trips to Noltie's Botanical Novelties and finally made her feel as though she could breathe again. She had pulled apart the entire kitchen, repainting the dull brown doors so they now were a beautiful bottle green to match the handles of the utensils she bought from her trip into Muggle London, and with a little help from magic, rebuilt the bookshelves that covered the walls of the reading nook that she had begged for when they first moved in and refilled them with whatever books she could salvage from the wreckage. She spent days on her hands and knees next to a bucket of bleach, scrubbing away the footprints of Death Eaters and Snatchers, until her fingers were red, her entire body aches and her nostrils burned after every breath. However, no matter how hard she willed herself, there were two rooms where she could not go, her parent's bedroom and her own. She spent hours sitting in the hallway between them, trying to muster the courage to go in but she never could. Instead, she kept them locked and acted as though they weren't even there.</p><p>              It wasn't until the third week that she dared touch anything in the café below. She had avoided it by throwing herself into what was upstairs, only venturing into the mess downstairs when she had to leave to go get food or on the few occasions she allowed herself to wander around for an hour or two so she could collect supplies or go to the bank. She didn't avoid it because she found it to be too painful of a memory like she did the bedrooms, but because she knew that as soon as she began working on it there would be no running away. People had always been nosey in Diagon Alley but the nosiest of all was little Madam Miriam Malkin, a plump, cheerful witch who only ever wore slightly varying shades of mauve and worked in 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'. This fact was proven to still be true when the day finally came that Marlene pulled down the slats of wood from the windows and gave some life to the café.</p><p>              Light poured in in one large burst and at the exact moment the first drop of golden light broke through the darkness, the walls gave a heavy sigh of relief and drank it in desperately. No longer was the room dull or foreign to Marlene, she could faintly hear the echoes of her Mum's laughter coming from the kitchen and she could just about make out the customers who sat at the tables with their mugs of tea and plates of treats. It almost felt like home again.</p><p>              Marlene had just begun to sweep up the shards of dishes when she heard a loud shriek from outside of the window. It was Madam Malkin, and she was smiling so wide that her tiny, watery eyes almost disappeared into her full cheeks.</p><p>              "Madam Malkin," she tried to sound as cheery as possible as she opened the door to the busy alley only to be attacked in a bone-crushing embrace with no forewarning which meant Marlene had no time to take a breath or prepare herself.</p><p>              "Is it really you, Dear?" the witch asked, staring up at Marlene with tearful eyes, "Oh it is you!"</p><p>              Madam Malkin's shop had always been a favourite of Marlene's ever since she had taken her first trip to the alley before her first year of school. She was always fascinated by the fabrics that Madam Malkin kept in stock. Some of them had rotating patterns that would drift along the garment with every move its wearer made and some of them even had built-in perfumes that would twirl Marlene's senses around and make her feel dizzy with happiness.</p><p>              "Where have you been young lady?" Madam Malkin said crossly, pulling away. Her arms were folded so tightly across her chest Marlene thought she looked like she'd never unfold again.</p><p>              "Everywhere," Marlene gave a nervous laugh, Madam Malkin was never a person you wished to cross and despite her sweet nature she had a bite that would leave you wounded for years if you did her wrong, "I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I didn't mean to be."</p><p>              Madam Malkin looked fierce. Her stare made Marlene's skin itch uncomfortably and suddenly she felt like the same twelve-year-old girl again who had dropped an ice-cream cone down her freshly pressed robes. She also felt slightly less hopeful now that everyone else's reactions to her return would be positive.</p><p>              "Three years you've been gone young lady, and not even a letter!" Madam Malkin tutted.</p><p>              "I'm sorry Madam Malkin... I just had to get away for a while after I heard what had happened to... well you know the story, don't you, I suppose I just got too caught up to write to anyone," Marlene said softly.</p><p>              Madam Malkin's icy stare seemed to melt, and she also saw that little twelve-year-old girl standing in front of her, looking guilty.</p><p>               Madam Malkin had also been a good friend of William and Ruby and had been one of the first in the alley to welcome them without judgement. She was a regular customer at the café, often bringing along friends and staying for hours to spread her daily dose of gossip that she had heard from the other shopkeepers. She had become like an extra family member to the King's and Marlene was always grateful for her motherly nature.</p><p>              "Are you reopening?" Madam Malkin asked, changing the subject by acknowledging the shop behind her.</p><p>              Marlene nodded, "I was thinking about it, I have to get the place cleaned up first though. It's a bit of a mess right now and I'm pretty sure I might have an Acromantula living in the cellar, I keep finding giant cobwebs everywhere."</p><p>"Oh, how exciting!" Madam Malkin squeaked, clapping her hands together, "Everyone will be so pleased."</p><p>              "I hope so," Marlene chuckled, "As soon as I've stuffed some life back into the old place and given it a new name we'll be ready to go."</p><p>              Madam Malkin raised her eyebrows, "You're not keeping it as is?"</p><p>              Marlene shook her head. If she was truly going to give this a go then she was changing everything. Marley's Crumbles was too big of a reminder to have slap her in the face every morning, so it had to go. It all had to go.</p><p>              "Well do you have any ideas?"</p><p>              "A couple," Marlene lied. She hadn't thought about it truthfully.</p><p>              "Well, what about menus, have you thought about what you're going to be selling?"</p><p>              Now that Marlene had somewhat thought of.</p><p>              "I'm not having one," she grinned proudly but was quick to continue speaking once she saw Madam Malkin's grim expression, "It's going to be different every day, not quite the traditional way of doing things but I always did hate traditional. You know that."</p><p>              Madam Malkin shook her head, tutting under her breath but still looked slightly amused, "Well let me know when you come up with a name and we'll get a sign whipped up for you. My treat."</p><p>              Marlene had opened her mouth to speak and say that she didn't have to do that but Madam Malkin raised her hand and shushed her.</p><p>              "It is a gift! Also, now that I know that you are in fact alive and haven't been stranded on some desert island in the Caribbean, I will be coming round to check that you remain that way and that you haven't starved to death because you have forgotten to eat."</p><p>              Marlene was about to open her mouth and remind the woman that she was twenty-one and could remember to eat her basic food groups, but she held back and instead wrapped her arms around her, trapping her in a hug, "I've missed you too Madam Malkin."</p><p>              For Marlene, it felt as though her conversation with Madam Malkin had happened just yesterday. She had been so focused on cleaning the café that she hadn't quite realised that nine days had passed until she felt just how warm the weather was getting. The cool spring air was being pushed out and replaced with the beginnings of the type of thick, smothering heat that came along with the end of May. Patrons of the alley thronged to the cobbled pavements, clutching onto enchanted ice-cream cones that never melted from The Fortescue's ice-cream parlour and sipped on cool glasses of butterbeer from the Leaky Cauldron. Little children ran rampant on the warmer days. They used the shadows of the taller shops as cooling spots when they began to overheat before going back to sprinting through their parent's legs and screaming loudly as they went. Soon enough those children would be replaced by those who were slightly older and were returning home from Hogwarts, in need of their new supplies for the year ahead. Marlene used to love the Alley when it got to that time of year. She would see a different friend almost daily and she was always on the go with at least one of them, it was her little slice of heaven.</p><p>              The heat inside of the café was suffocating and no matter how wide the windows opened, none of them seemed to be allowing enough fresh air in fast enough for Marlene's lungs. More than once she caught herself setting down her wand to stare longingly out of the window at the people passing by with their faces being fanned by the slight breeze that had picked up and who were dining on their chilly-sweet-treats.</p><p>              Before then Marlene had been cautious of going out into the alley too much, especially now that the café was clearly no longer derelict, and that word was spreading that there was someone new taking over the old place. Madam Malkin never could keep her mouth shut. However, it came to the point where Marlene was desperate for fresh air, her entire body was slicked with sweat and she could no longer move without gasping for air. So instead of choosing to suffocate any longer, she grabbed the paint tins she had bought during her trip to Muggle London and started working on the outside until the walls were completely covered in teal green paint, although she did feel as though she more on herself than anything.</p><p>              It was nice being outside. People passed, not paying her much attention and she was able to enjoy the breeze while listening to her music. She had been in such of a daze in fact that she failed to notice the person that had snuck up behind her and was watching her intently.</p><p>              "Friday night and the lights are low... looking out for a place to go..." she hummed along with the radio, "Where they play the right music, getting in the swing-"</p><p>              "I'm glad to hear you still have a set of pipes on you, Queenie."</p><p>              Marlene gasped at the voice and looked down only to be met by the unmistakable face of Fred Weasley beaming back up at her with that same boyish grin he had never quite grown out of.</p><p>              "Do my eyes deceive me or is that actually the one and only, Miss Marlene King? I can't tell, you look taller when you're all the way up there," he smirked, leaning against her ladder.</p><p>              "Fred Weasley! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" she squealed and hurried down the rungs of the ladder so she could face him properly and give him a well-needed hug.</p><p>              At school, Fred had been a good friend of Marlene's and been the reasoning behind Professor McGonagall not suggesting her name for the role of Prefect. Not that Marlene minded much, of course, she had no interest in becoming Percy-two-point-oh and much rathered spending her free afternoons at the Quidditch pitch watching the Gryffindor team practice. Fred had also become somewhat like her rock when she went into hiding with his family. He was there for her through the nightmares and the chunks of time where she felt completely helpless in the mess of it all and he was there to hold her hand just before she left.</p><p>              Fred instinctively wrapped his arms around the smaller girl and picked her up so he could twirl her around just like he had done after his Quidditch matches at school.</p><p>              "Watch it, I'm covered in paint!" Marlene swatted at his biceps.</p><p>              "So I see," Fred chuckled when he set her down and wiped a smear of paint from her cheek with the pad of his thumb only to wipe it back down her nose a second later, "You do remember you are a witch don't you? Or did you surrender your wand while you were away?"</p><p>              "Some things are just better being done the muggle way," she beamed up at the shop front with pride and poked him in his chest, "Your Dad would agree."</p><p>              "Dad would agree with anything you said, he could listen to you talk for hours," Fred pointed out and Marlene agreed by nodding her head. She could talk to Arthur for hours too, she was always fascinated by his ideas of how muggle things worked, "How long have you been back? I thought you might have popped by the shop and said hello."</p><p>              Marlene suddenly felt a slight knot of guilt tug at her stomach, "About a month? Just over maybe? I've lost track of the days at this point."</p><p>              Marlene had passed the bright and buzzing storefront of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes more times than she had passed any other shop, often going to only stand by the front door, work herself up to go in and see her friends again, only to see a flash of ginger hair and sprint off in the other direction.</p><p>              "I see you've been busy," said Fred and he gestured towards the café's window.</p><p>              Marlene nodded, "Marley's Crumbles is under new management these days... me."</p><p>              Fred's grin broadened, "I guess I've found my new lunch spot."</p><p>              "You better have, I'll keep a slice of pie or two away for you if you're lucky."</p><p>              "I can't believe you've come back to open the café again," said Fred in awe after studying her face for a few moments, "Did dragons get too boring for you, so you decided to come back and serve tea? I thought you wanted to teach! Why aren't you up at Hogwarts right now with Minnie, confiscating all of my products from snotty first years and playing with your Hippogriffs?"</p><p>              Marlene had always wanted to teach, whether that be at Hogwarts or elsewhere, but that had been her plan for so long, but it had been completely rattled when the War came and now that it was over, it just felt like more of a faded fantasy that Marlene had tucked away in a dark corner of her mind to dream about late at night when she couldn't sleep.</p><p>              "Yeah well... I don't think Minnie could handle having me back right now, I can already imagine what fresh hell she's going through right now with all of your handy work being passed around, she doesn't need me stepping on her toes and encouraging it all," Marlene tried her best to sound convincing to both Fred and herself, "Besides, the old place needed a tidy up anyway. A lick of paint and a few transfiguration spells should do the trick just fine. I'll be up and running in no time."</p><p>              "Well I'll be the first customer in the door don't you worry, especially if you make some of those brownie things you used to make us in school," Fred sighed contently before his eyes widened with excitement and he broke out into another wide smile, "Angelina is bringing Katie over tonight and Lee's coming too, you should come up and have dinner with us. Penny's making food for us all."</p><p>              "Penny?" Marlene gasped, smacking at Fred's upper arm, "As in Penelope Bristlewood? The Hufflepuff girl you practically dribbled over whenever she walked past in the corridor? You got her?"</p><p>              Fred had had a crush on Penelope for years although he would never admit it again after he saw Miles Bletchley take her to the Yule Ball.</p><p>              Fred nodded bashfully, "I did, took a bit of convincing but I finally said yes to her asking me out."</p><p>              Marlene leaned over and smacked him again.</p><p>              "Alright!" Fred dodged her third attempt at an attack, "We met at the Leaky Cauldron two years ago and Hannah set us up while she was working... I owe that girl big time."</p><p>              "Hannah works at the Leaky Cauldron?" Marlene gasped and Fred nodded, "Jeeze, when did we all grow up?"</p><p>              "I don't know..." Fred hummed thoughtfully, "So, tonight, are you coming? Angelina's desperate to show off her engagement ring to someone new, she's shown everyone at this point and I think Katie's starting to regret even giving her it."</p><p>              Marlene opened her mouth and the word yes was just about to slip off her tongue when she remembered who else was likely to be there.</p><p>              "He would be happy to see you, you know..." Fred said softly as if reading her mind, "At least he'd be happy to know you're alive since all we had to go on for a while there were Charlie's letters, and you know he's not the most reliable source."</p><p>              Marlene wrung her wrists nervously, "Fred, you and I both know that's not true."</p><p>              As much as she wanted to see her friends again she knew that it just wasn't the right time. </p><p>              Fred stuffed his hands into his pockets and chuckled darkly, "He has a girlfriend now, she practically lives at the flat with us but they have a date tonight so you wouldn't have to worry about running into him if that's why you're about to say no."</p><p>              "He can't know I'm back yet Freddie..." she grumbled, "You remember how bad it was when I left, I just can't face him yet. I can't do that to him or me."</p><p>              "Alright then," Fred was understanding, "I'll let the others know you're here anyway; they'll want to see you. Who else knows you're home?"</p><p>              "Apart from Madam Malkin-" Fred snorted, of course, the nosiest person in London would know, "- no one really, Charlie didn't even know I was coming back here. I just sort of appeared here when I apparated. It's a wonder I didn't splinch myself when I think about it."</p><p>              "I'll let Mum know too then, no doubt she and Dad'll be wanting you round for dinner to tell them all about your adventures. They've missed you; we all have, especially Ginny though, I don't doubt you'll be popular for a while."</p><p>              "I've missed you all too," she assured him, "Don't be a stranger Freddie."</p><p>              "I won't," he whispered and slowly began walking away, waving as he went before he turned his back and jogged back towards the bright orange shop, leaving Marlene with watery eyes and a slightly aching chest.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Friendly Faces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I do not own any of the characters associated with the Harry Potter Franchise, those characters are owned by JK Rowling. The only characters I do own are those of my own invention.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the rest of the week, Marlene worked tirelessly in the café, forfeiting sleep for coffee and a pile of rejected brownies that she had made one night after deciding that she needed a break from the paint fumes, all in a futile attempt to distract herself from the dull ache that had sat in her chest ever since Fred's first visit.</p><p>              By Friday evening she had managed to finish painting the outside, finished painting the inside, reorganised the kitchen, rebuilt and refurbished all of the broken furniture she had put in the cellar, and baked until she was sure that essence of vanilla had permanently tainted her sense of smell, leaving her utterly exhausted.</p><p>              Her breaks had come when Madam Malkin had made her usual rounds to drop off sign samples to hang over the door, occasionally bringing her lunch and a course of riveting conversation that was normally filled with such skewed gossip from Mr Whitby, the old man who worked in the Apothecary, and Mrs Woopper, who ran the Magical Menagerie, that Marlene doubted very much if there was any truth in what was being said. She enjoyed it nonetheless.</p><p>              Short breaks also came when Fred had started making his own appearances which had started has little and often, but by Saturday he had spent almost the entire day helping Marlene rearrange tables and taking stock of her ingredients.</p><p>               "Won't Penelope be asking where you've gotten to?" Marlene asked when she looked at the clock and noticed that Fred had been with her for over eight hours and he had made no attempt to leave.</p><p>              Fred shook his head, "She's visiting her Mum and Dad for the weekend in Dalkey."</p><p>              "What about everyone else? It's pretty rare that Fred Weasley just picks up and leaves without telling anyone where he's getting off to."</p><p>              Fred raised his eyebrows in her direction, but Marlene pretended not to notice while she busied herself with rearranging a bundle of flowers that had been dropped off by Madam Malkin that morning.</p><p>              "If you're asking if George knows I'm here then the answer is no," Fred huffed, "He's been... busy recently."</p><p>              Instead of answering Marlene nodded quietly and quickly before moving on to a more distracting task before the ache in her chest became too much to handle and she burst.</p><p>              By late afternoon almost everything had been set up and all that was left for Marlene to do was choose a name and open her doors to actual customers, not just Fred and Madam Malkin. Despite this, Marlene continued to fuss over the little details; like how the napkins should be displayed, what angles the tables should be at to fit the flow of the room and where each of her many plants should be hung or sat so that they had optimal light. It had gotten so bad that Fred had to intervene by dragging her through the café by the top of the arm and up the stairs to her flat where he forced her to sit down while he looked for something for them to eat so they didn't die from overeating burnt brownies.</p><p>               "Merlin Mar," said Fred from halfway in the fridge, "What have you been eating? This thing's empty! All you have is wine and some butter."</p><p>              Marlene chuckled from the couch, "Just whatever Madam Malkin drops off for lunch sometimes. I was never one for cooking."</p><p>              Fred shook his head and slammed the door shut, "How can you bake but not cook, that makes no sense."</p><p>              "Baking is precise, you have to be exact or else it won't turn out right, cooking is a bit more abstract and I always end up messing something up."</p><p>              Fred snorted, "I can't believe you were in Gryffindor... bloody precision."</p><p>              He walked over to her and grabbed her hands again, pulling her up from the couch and tugged her over towards the fireplace.</p><p>"Is your Floo still all set up?" he asked somewhat impatiently.</p><p>              Marlene shrugged, "It should be, I never contacted the Ministry to disconnect it... but Fred, where are we going?"</p><p>              "Mum and Dad's," he grumbled and grabbed a handful of the old Floo-powder that sat above the mantle before chucking it into the feeble flames which quadrupled in size and sent a flash of green across the flat, "I'm hungry, you have no food and Mum'll be making dinner by now, come on!"</p><p>                 Marlene had no choice in the matter, Fred had already tugged her inside and the emerald flames were licking at her hips before Fred yelled clearly, 'The Burrow', sending them spiralling through a blur of green flames with the occasional flash of light through the mouth of someone else's fireplace until they were spat out onto the cool stone of the Weasley's fireplace.</p><p>              "Mum!" Fred yelled, stepping out and leaving Marlene on her knees and on the brink of retching up those burnt brownie pieces, "I've come for a visit and I've brought a friend!"</p><p>              Margot clambered to her knees while grumbling and dusting off the clumps of ash that had clung to her clothes.</p><p>              Her annoyance, however, was quickly swept away and she was overcome with the overwhelming sensation of being at home. The familiar warm, woody smell that mingled with warm spices and a strange flowery sweetness from Mrs Weasley's perfume filled her lungs with every breath and brought the biggest smile onto Marlene's face. The Burrow had always been a second home to her and there were even some lingering hints of her existence dotted around the house, from the odd end-of-year exam card to silly doodles she had drawn on napkins and even a few muggle inventions that she had gifted Mr Weasley during Christmases and other odd times throughout the years.</p><p>              "Who've you brought, Dear?" Marlene heard Mrs Weasley ask, "I thought Penny was in Ireland this weekend?"</p><p>               "It's not Penny, Mum," Fred said just as Marlene rounded the corner, "I ran into a street dog on the way over and I felt bad for her so thought I would bring her home with me, see if you'd want to keep her."</p><p>              Marlene's eyes immediately met Mrs Weasley's hazel ones that, for a moment, were filled with confusion when she didn't quite realise who she was looking at. Perhaps Marlene had changed more than she thought. Her hair had grown after all.</p><p>               "Hi Mrs Weasley," said Marlene sheepishly with a small wave.</p><p>Instantly Mrs Weasley's eyes widened and her hands clasped against her mouth in shock. She gasped loudly. Her head whipped between Fred, who was grinning like a child again, and Marlene whose own eyes had gone slightly glossy.</p><p>              "Tell me I'm not dreaming Fred," Mrs Weasley whimpered while slowly making her way forwards until her fingers were grazing against the side of Marlene's freckled cheek, "Tell me this isn't one of your silly pranks."</p><p>              Fred chuckled, "It's her Mum, she's back, I promise."</p><p>              Mrs Weasley let out a loud wail and flung her arms around Marlene so tightly that it seemed unlikely that she would ever let go. Marlene held her too, her hands gripping onto the back of Mrs Weasley's cardigan and her head buried into Mrs Weasley's shoulder.</p><p>              "Oh you!" Mrs Weasley pulled away and cupped Marlene's cheeks while her eyes scanned over her face to check that it was in fact her, "You're home!"</p><p>              "I'm home," Marlene sniffled.</p><p>              Suddenly Mrs Weasley pulled away again, her eyes even larger and she rushed towards the front door croaking her husband's name through her tears. From the corner, Marlene heard Fred's laughter and looked over to see him relaxing on the couch looking smug and extremely satisfied with himself. He gave her a small thumbs up for encouragement to match her middle finger that she flashed him.</p><p>              "Arthur!" Mrs Weasleys cracking voice echoed across the grounds towards the large metal bunker where Mrs Weasley had banished all of Mr Weasley's muggle 'toys' to so they didn't clutter the house, "Arthur, come quick! Marlene's home!"</p><p>              Mr Weasley's balding head poked out of the door, his round glasses sliding from his pointed nose, "What Dear?"</p><p>              Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Marlene is home!"</p><p>              He must have heard his wife the second time because he disappeared for a moment before reappearing fully out of the door and was walking across the garden back towards the house while wiping his oil-covered hands on a dirty rag.</p><p>              "This is amazing!" Mrs Weasley gasped again, turning to look at Marlene again in disbelief, "When did you get back?"</p><p>              "Not long ago," Marlene lied. She felt guilty for having not visited them sooner or even written to let them know, "I'm reopening the café, Fred's been helping me sort everything out."</p><p>              Mrs Weasley continued to fawn over her for a while, running her hands over her head and shoulders as though looking for any damage that Marlene may have sustained while out of Mrs Weasley's care but found nothing to fuss about.</p><p>              "Marlene!" Mr Weasley bellowed when he walked through the front door, opening his arms for her which she walked into with no hesitation, "You're back!"</p><p>              "I'm back," she laughed and sniffed the last of her tears away, "And back for a while I think, I'm reopening the café."             </p><p>              Mr Weasley cheered, "I thought I heard you say that, that's brilliant!"</p><p>              "I think this calls for a celebration," Mrs Weasley grinned and hurried off towards the kitchen, probably to make sure she had enough for people to eat, "Fred, let everyone know that Marlene's back, they'll want to know that she's here!"</p><p>              "No, honestly, Fred, Mrs Weasley, it's okay I-"</p><p>              "Fred Gideon Weasley, you listen to your mother," Mrs Weasley boomed from the kitchen.</p><p>              "Sorry Queenie, I've been given my orders."</p><p>              Marlene shot Fred a pleading glance as a last attempt to stop him, she had already caused enough trouble by coming with him and the last thing she wanted to do was rip his siblings away from their homes so late, but Fred ignored her, shot a wink in her direction and headed back towards the fireplace.</p><p>              Accepting her fate of having to see everyone she had abandoned all over one dinner; Marlene swallowed the thick lump that had gotten stuck in her throat and went to help Molly peel some more carrots.</p><p>              Somehow, during the commotion of it all, Fred had used the Floo to speak to Ron and Ginny, organised for them to bring Harry and Hermione for dinner, went back to Marlene's flat, went through her things and brought back a large stack of photos as well as one of her larger practice pies that she had made the night before.</p><p>              "That's Norberta," Marlene said while pointing to the large, black and brown dragon in the photo that Charlie was standing next to. She was sitting at the table with Mr Weasley after he had insisted on seeing everything from her travels, so she started with the few photos she had from Romania. Norberta was the dragon that Hagrid had hatched in his hut during Marlene's first year and had been named Norbert before Charlie had taken the thing to the sanctuary and found out that he was in fact she. Gone were the days when she looked like a crumpled black umbrella with papery wings. Now she towered over most of the other dragons at the sanctuary with a thick set of ebony scales and wings that looked more like giant sheets of thick leather that would pound through the wind with ease whenever she took flight.</p><p>              "I flew on her once by accident, we thought she was sedated enough so I could climb up there and have a look for scale rot, but she ended up taking off, it's lucky I didn't get flung into the side of a mountain really... didn't stop me from having another go later though."</p><p>              Mrs Weasley clucked in disapproval from the sink while Mr Weasley clapped her back enthusiastically.</p><p>              Just as Marlene was about to move onto the next photo, she suddenly felt arms wrap around her shoulders and someone shouted 'Boo' into her ear so that she jumped so high that she almost slid right off her seat.</p><p>              "Ronald Weasley!" she roared once she had seen who it was, "Do not scare me like that!"</p><p>              Ron pulled Marlene in for another hug, "Sorry Mar, I just thought maybe if you'd seen me coming then you would have run away again!"</p><p>              "Don't be too harsh on yourself Ronald, you're not that ugly," Marlene muttered which made Ginny and Fred begin to giggle, "You did manage to bag Hermione after all."</p><p>               "He even managed to put a ring on it," Hermione said, squeezing past her fiancé and hugging Marlene herself while Ron just stood back looking slightly dumbfounded and as though he was still trying to understand her joke, "I'm so happy you're back Mar."</p><p>              Suddenly Marlene felt herself being yanked back and her feet slipped from under her. With a heavy thud she landed back-first on the rug below and not letting Marlene have time to react or defend herself in any way, Ginny pounced, straddling Marlene's waist and began smacking at Marlene's chest and arms.</p><p>               "Three years Mar! Three years you left me with these tits!" Ginny yelled while everyone just sat back and watched in amusement.</p><p>              Somehow, Marlene was able to grab onto Ginny's flailing wrists and used her body weight flip them over so that Marlene was on top and able to attack Ginny's sides with her fingers. Perks of living with mostly men for two years.</p><p>              "Seriously you two?" Mrs Weasley yelled shrilly while trying, but failing, to contain her smile, "You are grown-ups, act like it!"</p><p>              "Yeah Ginny, we're grown up now," mocked Marlene, dipping down and sticking her tongue out to touch the tip of Ginny's nose who squirmed in disgust but still laughed loudly while Marlene helped her to her feet, "Good to see you still have that fight in you, Weasley."</p><p>              "You're just lucky she didn't have her wand on her," said Harry while kissing his girlfriend's temple and handing her over her wand, "Or else you might've found yourself on the receiving end of a mean bat-bogey hex. She's still got a knack for them you know."</p><p>              Fred snorted, "Like it'd be the first time, Ginny used to throw them about like they're nothing. I'd be surprised if there was anyone at Hogwarts who hadn't had her wand pointed at their noses."</p><p>                "I can do one now if you like, I'm a little rusty but I think I could manage to get a decent couple out of your massive schnozz," Ginny said casually but from the way she fingered the wand in her hand, Fred knew she wasn't kidding.</p><p>              Once everyone had given Marlene and official greeting that didn't end up with her on the floor and had asked her a few of their burning questions, like where she had been and when she had gotten back, Mrs Weasley called on them all to help her set the table for dinner. As per usual Mrs Weasley went above and beyond for her family and by the time everything had been set on the table Marlene could have sworn there was a dip in the middle of the wood from the weight of it all.</p><p>              "This is amazing Mum, thanks" said Fred, dipping down to kiss his mother's cheek as he passed her on his way to sit by Marlene.</p><p>              "Of course, you know I always love having you all over for dinner," she waved him away as though cooking for eight people was no more of a strenuous task than cooking for two, but she stopped when she looked around the table, "Where's Percy and George, are they coming? Have you seen George since you've been back Marlene? I bet he's thrilled!"</p><p>              The whole table froze, and all eyes fell on Marlene, including Mr Weasley's.</p><p>              "Uh, George is busy tonight, we had a lot of work left to do in the shop and he said he'd cover for me," Fred said hastily, "and Percy said that he and Audrey had something to do with wedding planning, I didn't pay much attention but he did say he'd visit tomorrow to get your opinion on the church decorations."</p><p>              "Wedding planning?" asked Marlene to avoid everyone's not so subtle glances towards her as well as Mrs Weasley's question.</p><p>              Mrs Weasley nodded and smiled proudly, "He and Audrey are getting married in the middle of July, after the World Cup!"</p><p>              "Speaking of the World Cup," Mr Weasley coughed to divert the conversation onto other, less potentially delicate topics, "Hermione, would you like to tell everyone?"</p><p>                 Hermione nodded quickly, "Mr Weasley and I have managed to get together a few tickets, enough for all of us and Marlene, if you'd like to come that is Mar. Kingsley has been kind enough to get us seats again in the Minister's box."</p><p>              The awkwardness was quickly replaced by excitement and everyone began shouting over one another. Some things never did change at the Burrow.</p><p>              "What'd you say Queenie?" Fred poked at Marlene's ribs, "You up for a bit of Weasley mania for a couple days?"</p><p>              Marlene had barely had a chance to think about it before Ginny answered for her, "Of course she's coming Fred, she's got no choice! She's got to be Hermione and I's moral support if we have to put up with you dolts for Gordric knows how long. The game could go on for days!"</p><p>              "I guess that answers that," Marlene laughed, "But I thought the cup wasn't until next year?"</p><p>              "It wasn't but Kingsley managed to pull a few strings with Ludo Bagman and pull it back a year because the last one was cancelled," Harry explained, "The next one won't be for another five years though, it's all a bit of a mess really, Ludo's been running about like a mad man, but I'm not complaining if I get a few days off work."</p><p>              "Me neither," Ron agreed.</p><p>              Dinner went by relatively quickly and was filled with conversations about the upcoming world cup, Ron being slightly more reserved with his excitement since his fiancé's very famous ex-love-affair would be playing but he quickly snapped out of it when Hermione reminded him who's ring was on her finger. Conversations moved on to different topics like the upcoming wedding, Bill and Fleur and their daughter, Marlene's brief stop in Salem, and dessert came so quick that Marlene didn't have time to see what kind of pie Mrs Weasley was cutting into. It wasn't until she noticed Ron had a glazed, doe-like look on his face that Marlene had realised what had happened.</p><p>               "Everyone forks down!" she yelped loudly, taking everyone by surprise, "Fred where did you get that pie from?"</p><p>              Ron giggled like a drunken child and slouched clumsily into Hermione's shoulder, craning his neck up to place a lazy kiss onto the exposed skin of her neck.</p><p>              "Your fridge downstairs, why?" he asked while raising his fork to his mouth. Marlene slapped his hand away, "Ow Mar!"</p><p>              Everyone was focused on Ron who was now mumbling how much he loved Hermione under his breath.</p><p>              "Ron? How do you feel?" she asked gingerly while crouched down next to his chair.</p><p>              He gave another dreamy giggle.</p><p>              "Happy," he replied slowly, "Sooooo happy."</p><p>              "Is he high?" laughed Harry.</p><p>              "Looks it," Ginny agreed.</p><p>              Marlene gave a heavy sigh and rubbed at her temples with her fingers, "He's not high, just happy... very happy apparently. Mione, help me get him outside will you?"</p><p>              Together, Hermione and Marlene hoisted Ron form his chair and out of the backdoor onto the grass while everyone else followed along behind them. </p><p>              Ron swayed on his feet as though drunk and giggled once more when Marlene pulled her wand from her boot and pointed it towards the tip of his nose. </p><p>"Ron, I'm so sorry about this mate but you'll be loopy for hours if I don't."</p><p>               A stream of ice-cold water flew from the tip of Marlene's wand and smacked Ron's cheeks for a few seconds without any reaction but soon he began spluttering and yelling in shock.</p><p>"Marlene, what the fuck!" he yelled, batting away the water, "Wait, why am I outside? What happened?"</p><p>              Everyone except Mrs Weasley and Ron seemed to be laughing now. </p><p>              "You just ate some of my 'Cheer Up Cherry Pie'," Marlene laughed, "I think I put a bit too much cheer in though, you looked like you were in La La land for a minute there."</p><p>              "Felt like it," Ron grumbled, "What was it supposed to do? Knock me out?"</p><p>              "No!" Marlene assured him quickly, "It's something I was working on for the café... Just a little something for people who might still be struggling a bit with, you know, the war, life in general, work, it was only meant to make you feel a little happier, that was all."</p><p>              Ginny raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Café?"</p><p>              "I'm reopening Marley's Crumbles..." Marlene wrapped her arms around herself tightly, she was suddenly feeling the cool summer night air a lot more than she had been minutes ago, "I just thought that maybe people could do with some extra help sometimes, especially the people in Diagon Alley with what happened to them and what better to give them a pick me up than a slice of pie or a muffin or something."</p><p>              Marley hadn't noticed but Mrs Weasley had shuffled closer to her and placed a warm hand on her shoulder, "That sounds lovely Dear."</p><p>              "I think we need to get Ron someone to check his food," said Harry suddenly, "First he was poisoned by Romilda Vane and now this... you need to start watching what you eat mate."</p><p>              Everyone laughed again, including Ron, and Marlene no longer felt so guilty for almost putting him into a bliss-fueled coma.</p><p>              Once they were sure that Ron was no longer so cheery, and he was dry, they went back inside and replaced the tainted Cherry Pie with bowls of ice-cream and glasses of Mr Weasley's special marmalade mead which had them all in a far better mood than the pie ever would have, and they chatted until the sun went down.</p><p>              It was almost ten before Mrs Weasley gave her first yawn, a record for her, and it wasn't long after that she excused herself to her bed. But before she went, she spent another five minutes hugging Marlene and making her promise to come by next Sunday for a proper dinner when Percy and Bill would be there too. However, after they had seen Mr Weasley yawning too, the group decided it was time to go home too and had prepared themselves to step into the fireplace when Fred had an idea.</p><p>              "How about we go to my flat? Penny brought home some of her Dad's famous firewhisky-butterbeer concoction for me last time she went home and I've been saving it for a special occasion."</p><p>              "And what's so special about tonight?" Hermione asked.</p><p>              Fred slung his arm around Marlene's shoulder and grinned down at her, "We've got our Queenie back."</p><p>              That was a good enough excuse for them. So, when they each stepped into the fireplace, they called out 'The flat above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' and off they went, spiralling through emerald flames once more and were spat out onto the living room rug in front of two faded red and rather squished looking couches.</p><p>              The flat itself was far different from what Marlene had imagined during those few times she had dared to let herself think about it for more than a second. It was larger for one, much bigger than her own, and not a thing seemed to be out of place. She took note of the way that each of the blankets were perfectly folded and tucked away in a basket by one of the sofas and how there were placemats on the dining room table. She had never pinned the Weasley boys as the type to care about placemats.</p><p>              "Does he have a House-elf?" Marlene turned to Ron and asked when he appeared after her.</p><p>               "Nah, Penny's just got Fred whipped," he shrugged.</p><p>              "It's true," Harry agreed, already splayed out on a couch, "It used to look like a bombsite whenever we'd come over, but the first time Penny came over he had to clean and now he's just forced to keep up the standard."</p><p>              Thank Merlin for Penny.</p><p>              As if he had felt his ears burning, Fred appeared from the kitchen in the corner gripping onto the neck of a bottle of the precious golden liquid, "Penny said to be careful because this stuff is lethal and not to drink too much of it."</p><p>              Both Ron and Harry leaned over towards Marlene and made a whipping noise with their mouths which made Marlene burst into even laughter.</p><p>               Maybe it was the alcohol that was fuzzing Marlene's brain or maybe it was the fact that she was surrounded by friends and had never felt so happy in her life. She couldn't remember a whole lot past when Fred had poured everyone's first glass, but she did know that she was having fun.</p><p>              She was watching from the couch, her head in Fred's lap as Ginny and Harry played a very intense game of wizard's chess but every time a person had one of their pieces shattered, they had to take a drink. So far, they had themselves a tie, each of them still had half a glass left and neither of them seemed to have the desire to let their other half win.</p><p>              Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were laying on the other couch and were bickering about something that Marlene didn't care to listen too but she did notice when Ron shut Hermione up with a gentle kiss which she melted into. It was nice to finally see them together and happy after so many years of being forced to watch them pine after one another like a pair of love sick puppies.</p><p>              "Ew, love," Marlene snorted into her glass.</p><p>              "What's so wrong with love?" Fred said, flicking Marlene's forehead and making her yelp in pain, "Love's great."</p><p>              "Everyone who's in love says it's great," Marlene rolled her eyes, "You say love's great because you're in love with Penny, but I'm not in love so therefore, it's not all that great. I get the joy of having the outsiders perspective and I can't be blinded by pretty flowers and bottles of booze so I get to see all of the little red flags popping up that you think are orange."</p><p>              Fred tutted, "You can't tell me you don't have some Romanian boyfriend waiting for you back at the Dragon Sanctuary. What about that guy that was in some of your pictures, the tall one with the scar? He seems like your type."</p><p>              "That's Jonathon," Marlene giggled, "He'd be more into Charlie than me if you get what I mean."</p><p>              Fred's eyes widened, "He's into my brother?"</p><p>              "No, you idiot!" Marlene swatted his chest, "He's just into men."</p><p>              "You can't tell me there's no one that you fancied at least a little bit," Fred teased, "Come on Queenie, tellll meeeeee."</p><p>              Fred's fingers dug into her sides in a merciless tickle-attack which almost resulted in the tangy-butterbeer flying across the room but Hermione was quick to dive over and pull the glass from Marlene's hands.</p><p>              "Fred, stop!" she squealed loudly and tried to wriggle away but she had no chance. Fred was much larger than Ginny and in turn, far larger than Marlene. She was barely scraping five three while he was an entire foot taller and made of pure, beaters muscle, at least Ginny was only a few inches taller which made it a fairer fight. Even the men at the sanctuary hadn't been such a hard opponent to beat.</p><p>              He had already pulled himself from under Marlene's head and had his legs straddled over her middle before she could even try and fight back. While one hand worked on tickling at her ribs his other managed to wrangle Marlene's flailing arms and pinned them above her head.</p><p>              "Come on Mar! Get 'im" yelled Ginny, now more interested in the pair on the couch than Harry whose knight had just knocked her queen off the board.</p><p>              "Fred, geroff!" Marlene gasped through spurts of laughter, but Fred didn't listen. He continued his relentless attack until Marlene felt like her lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen, "There's no one! I swear!"</p><p>              Everyone was cheering loudly now while watching the pair, the odd bet being thrown by Harry and Ron while Ginny cheered the loudest and Hermione was laughing just as hard as Marlene was.</p><p>               Their joy, however, came to an abrupt halt as the door to the flat swung open with a loud bang against the wall and in stumbled two figures tangled in each other's limbs and moaning loudly into one another's mouths.</p><p>Marlene felt her heart stop just as Fred's hands had pulled away from her.</p><p>              "George," Fred grunted in annoyance to get his twin's attention.</p><p>The two people pulled away from each other, breathless and dishevelled, and turned to look at the group. It was at that moment that Marlene looked into the eyes of the only person she had ever loved for the first time in three years. George Weasley's. Except now his eyes were darkened by lust, not for Marlene, but for another woman who was standing beside him and had the same look of desire dusted across her face. It was Lyndsey Warp, a blonde-haired, bubbly Ravenclaw and the only girl who ever made Marlene feel even slightly insecure about her relationship with George, and now her lipstick was smeared across George's chin and her curls had just been wrapped around his fingers.</p><p>Merlin, she wanted to be sick.</p><p>              "Marley..." George whispered.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I do not own any of the characters associated with the Harry Potter Franchise, those characters are owned by JK Rowling. The only characters I do own are those of my own invention.</p>
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    <p>"Please Georgie, don't be like this!" Marlene begged while George paced around the room with his fists clenched by his sides.</p><p>Hot tears rolled down her face as she stood in their bedroom that they shared and begged for the person she loved not to shut her out. She begged for him to just look at her, fully thinking that if he just saw her face then he would understand, and they wouldn't be fighting anymore.</p><p>"Talk to me," she whispered, slowly inching forward until she was right in front of him and able to cup his freckled cheeks in her hands, "Please, I love you... please just listen to me."</p><p>George scoffed and yanked her hands away from his face. He stormed past her towards the desk where her backpack was laying empty for now but soon would be stuffed with every belonging she could fit, "You're the one that's leaving me, Marley. You're the one that has the plan to fuck off for Merlin knows how long, you're the one that is leaving here and I'm the one that's being abandoned."</p><p>His voice was low and steady as he spoke. Too steady for Marlene's liking.</p><p>"I'm not abandoning you!"</p><p>She was sobbing now. She was desperate for him to even try and see things from her point of view, but he refused, and instead took his anger out by picking up the photo frame that sat on the desk and launching it at the wall on the other side of the room. There was a loud crack and the glass shattered instantly. The tiny shards glistened in the cracks of the wood on the floor like glitter and the photo itself lay largely unharmed except for now the paper crown on George's head had slipped slightly.</p><p>"George!" she gasped.</p><p>For the first time, George looked up at her. Gone was the man she had fallen in love with. He had been replaced by a clenched jaw and dark eyes that were glazed by tears that he was too afraid to let from in fear of being vulnerable and getting hurt even more.</p><p>"I'm not leaving you Georgie," she whimpered, "I just need to fix some things."</p><p>"Let me fix them then!" his voice rumbled around the room like thunder, "Let me help you Marley! Please..."</p><p>Silently, Marlene walked over to where the photo lay and crouched down to pick it up.</p><p>"Marley, be careful, the glass..." George's whispers were soft and a far cry from the way he had just been shouting.</p><p>As carefully as she could, Marlene dusted the glittering shards from their faces and stared down at their smiling faces. It was Christmas Day. They had just eaten Mrs Weasley's amazing cooking and it was the happiest day Marlene had had in months. She and George sat side by side, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and they were both wearing matching goofy grins that almost took over their entire faces, and periodically George would lean over and press a kiss against Marlene's temple.</p><p>"You can't fix me George," she sounded defeated while she continued to stare down at the picture, "You can't help me... I don't even know if I can help me."</p><p>George looked at her with wide eyes. She couldn't be serious? He had always been there to help her. Always. Why not now? Why couldn't he be the answer to her problems now when he had been the answer to so many of them then?</p><p>"Bullshit," he said darkly, his chest rising and falling deeply, "I can help you; I've always been there to help you."</p><p>Marlene shook her head softly and tore her gaze away from the picture in her hands, "I love you George, more than anything and when I said forever, I meant it.... But I need to try and pick up my pieces on my own. I can't rely on you to do it for me all of the time. It's not healthy. You're losing sleep, you're missing work, you're not eating... this isn't okay and I don't want to hurt you anymore."</p><p>But he hadn't been hurting. Not until she said she had to leave. He had been fine taking care of her. He loved her. He would always love her, so why now wasn't he enough for her? George was filled with an anger that he had never felt before. This sort of anger stung deeply in his chest, as though his heart was crumbling to dust inside of him, and it made his throat feel as though it was closing up. Marlene could see this and wanted nothing more than to pull him over to the bed, to hold him tightly, and to tell him that everything was all going to be okay. She couldn't do that though, Okay-ness was no longer guaranteed for anybody, especially not for Marlene. He was digging his fingernails into the palm of his hands now, just to try and distract himself and give him something else to be hurt by other than what she was saying.</p><p>"Well I need you," he said, his voice slightly quivering, "I need you and you're leaving me. Excuse me for feeling hurt Marley."</p><p>"I'm sorry," she whispered through silent tears.</p><p>"Right," he muttered, "You're sorry."</p><p>Without another word, he turned away from her, wiping his damp eyes on his sleeve and headed straight for the door but he paused. Marlene thought that maybe he had changed his mind, that they would be able to talk about it more and that she would be able to help him see that she still loved him and what she was doing was best for them both.</p><p>"Have a good fucking life Marlene."</p><p>Those were the last words he had spoken to her three years ago and now she was staring back at those wide, golden eyes she had scarcely allowed herself to miss. She did miss them though. More than she had realised obviously because while they were no longer full of the love that they had been whenever he had looked at her before, nor did they have the twinkle that made her whole body feel week when she saw it, they did made her feel like a stupid, giddy teenager again. Now the only thing that filled his eyes were surprise and confusion and hurt when he realised who it was that was trapped underneath his brother.</p><p>"Well fuck," Ginny and Harry said in unison.</p><p>If the tension wasn't so high Marlene might have laughed, everyone might have if they were still drunk enough to ignore it but they weren't. Everyone was very much sobered up by the shock and their brains were no longer fogged by butterbeer, instead they were very clear and only focused on George and Marlene. Merlin, how Marlene longed for only the subtle awkwardness that dinner had brought. This awkwardness was suffocating... or perhaps that was the fault of Fred being on her chest. Regardless, Marlene could barely breathe.</p><p>"Hi George, Lindsey..." she muttered, "You two have a good night?"</p><p>"Oh my goodness! Marlene! I haven't seen you since school!" Lindsey squealed excitedly and seemed genuinely pleased to see Marlene sitting there. </p><p>George, however, did not reply despite the way his lips were opening and closing like a fish. Marlene tried her best to ignore George's unwavering stare by looking at fabric of Fred's t-shirt but couldn't help but let herself take another look at him. He hadn't changed much in the time she was gone but he certainly did look older now. Not in the sense that he had grey hairs or wrinkles across his forehead, but he looked more mature now, more like he had his shit together and didn't have to get Madam Malkin iron his work shirts for the week. He was bigger too. His years of Quidditch meant that he had always had some muscle, but he looked broader now, his shoulders and arms thicker and he looked more like Charlie in that way instead of like Bill who Fred resembled more. Marlene felt her heart pick up speed when she noticed the way his shirt sleeve tightened around his bicep. It certainly hadn't done that before.</p><p>'Stop dribbling Mar,' she thought to herself.</p><p>"I think I might walk Marlene home," Hermione's voice broke through the sticky silence as she kissed Ron again and got to her feet, "You coming Gin?"</p><p>Ginny was already on her own feet and grabbing her and Hermione's coats from the back of the couch Hermione had just been laying on, "Way ahead of you. You ready Mar?"</p><p>Marlene wanted to move, she really did, but with Fred still cemented on top of her and showing no signs of moving any time soon, Marlene could do nothing but try to struggle her way out from underneath him.</p><p>"Fred," Marlene groaned, "It's time for me to go home."</p><p>"No," said Fred, jaw twisting slightly, "We were having fun, Lindsey has her own place so they can go there and act like Puffskeins if they really want to."</p><p>"Yeah," Harry chimed in from the floor. He and Ron had been too busy watching with open mouths, heads twitching between the couch and the doorway as though they were watching a snitch flit between George and Fred, over and over again, to get any words out but it seemed that Harry had found his voice.</p><p>"No, it's alright, I'm tired anyways and I need my bed," she said.</p><p>Although she was slightly tired from her lack of sleep over the past week, all Marlene really wanted was the comfort of her own couch where she was not trapped between her ex-boyfriend, his twin brother and his new girlfriend, who on a whole seemed totally unaffected by the situation. Nevertheless, despite her assurance, Fred remained unmoving.</p><p>"George, why don't we go to my flat," Lindsey cooed sweetly, her perfectly manicured fingers wrapped around George's arm finger by finger and lightly squeezed to try and get his attention. She punctuated it with a suggestive giggle that almost triggered Marlene's gag reflex for the third time that evening, "I don't want us to ruin their evening."</p><p>"No, it's alright, just give me a second," Marlene assured her.</p><p>As carefully as she could so as not to startle him, Marlene reached up to pressed her hand against Fred's chest, she could feel his heart thumping wildly underneath the fabric of his t-shirt, "Fred... it's alright, It's late. I'll send you some tonic for your hangover in the morning and check in on you... I'm not going anywhere, I promise."</p><p>At her words, Fred seemed to relax. His heart began to slow down again and the lines that had formed on his forehead from his intense frowning melted away until he was looking at her again with a softened face.</p><p>"You should stop frowning," she giggled when he finally moved off of her abdomen, "You're going to get wrinkles early and that's not a good look for anyone."</p><p>Marlene was finally able to get to her feet and began wandering around, weaving through silent bodies and pieces of furniture while collecting her belongings that had somehow scattered themselves across the living room.</p><p>"How long have you been back?" George's sudden question came as a surprise to everyone.</p><p>Ginny's eyes widened and Hermione was gripping onto her wrist to stop Ginny from saying anything, meanwhile Ron and Harry's head spinning began to speed up as they looked between George and Marlene, waiting for her to answer. Even George seemed surprised by his question. From the way he shifted uncomfortably on his feet and his whole body stiffened, he hadn't even meant to ask her anything at all and the words that came from his mouth were more of a knee-jerk reaction to her trying to leave more than his actual desire to want to know when she had come back.</p><p>"About a month," Fred answered for her. His voice was low and slightly threatening but Marlene's hand on his shoulder relaxed him once again.</p><p>George swallowed thickly and seemed to be unaware of the way Lindsey was running her nails up and down his forearm while batting her lashes up at him, "A month?"</p><p>"Over that actually," said Fred.</p><p>George's face fell, "And you knew did you?"</p><p>"Oh stop it!" Marlene finally stepped in and felt herself walking around the sofa and stepping closer towards George, "He only found out a week ago so don't start on him."</p><p>"I'm sure he could have found time in a week to tell me that you were back," he huffed. His arm had jerked away from Lindsey's hold and he now folded them over his chest defensively, leaving her looking slightly dejected looking. </p><p>"Stop your pouting Weasley," she growled up at him, "It's not his fault I asked him not to tell you. He was just being a good friend."</p><p>"You asked him not to tell me?" George's volume increased slightly and from the corner of Marlene's eye, she saw Fred getting up from the couch and heading towards them.</p><p>"Of course I asked him not to tell you!" she almost laughed as she stepped closer to him again, "What was I supposed to do? He said you were happy so I asked him to keep it that way. Simple."</p><p>"And what, I was just supposed to walk by you in the street and figure out you were back for myself, was I?"</p><p>"Mate, piss off will you," Ron finally spoke up from the couch, "Leave her alone."</p><p>Harry nodded in agreement, still on the floor where Ginny left him, "We've just found out she was back tonight too. You don't see any of us having a temper tantrum."</p><p>George's fiery stare moved from his twin to the two men, but he said nothing else. Instead, he lowered his arms and laced his fingers with Lindsey's, leaning in to mutter something in her ear which made her giggle sweetly again and run off to where, Marlene presumed, George's bedroom was.</p><p>"Night all!" she called back to them.</p><p>Marlene looked to Fred who was already looking down at her with a sympathetic smile, "Do you want me to walk you back with Hermione and Ginny? You can take the floo if you want to get back quicker."</p><p>"We've got her Fred," said Hermione.</p><p>"I'll be fine, some fresh air will do us good," Marlene stood on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss to his cheek, "Promise."</p><p>Marlene said her goodbye's to Ron and Harry, giving them each permission to come to the café whenever they like and promising Ron that she would keep all treats filled with things that would make him giggle as far away from the others as she possibly could. She gave Fred one last thumbs up and headed towards the door where Hermione and Ginny were waiting, and George was hovering awkwardly.</p><p>"I'll see you around George," Marlene gave him a small, uncomfortable smile and slipped by him out the door, trying her best to ignore the faint 'Marley' she thought she had heard come from him when she passed and continued down the stairs, flanked by Ginny and Hermione.</p><p>As soon as the fresh night air brushed across her bare skin, Marlene felt every emotion over George she had repressed over the last three years suddenly bubble up inside her and hit her like a bus straight to the chest. With every step over cobbled paths, her limbs began to feel more and more like led until she could barely keep herself up anymore and she was forced to lean on Ginny for support while Hermione took the keys to unlock the door.</p><p>"Wow you like plants," Hermione commented while dodging a rogue hanging Moly that Marlene hadn't quite found the perfect spot for.</p><p>"And green," Ginny muttered.</p><p>Together the three girls shuffled through the office and climbed up the spiralling stairs until they were in the openness of Marlene's flat which was a welcoming sight to Marlene's blurry eyes. She let the girls wander off to the kitchen and instead grabbed the pillow and the blanket she had been using and collapsed onto one of the burnt-orange couches and let out a loud groan that resembled that of a Hippogriff that was in pain.</p><p>"We shouldn't have left them there," said Hermione mournfully while pulling out the cork to the bottle of wine that had been in Marlene's fridge.</p><p>"Glasses Mar?" Ginny called while looking through cupboards.</p><p>"Mugs, bottom shelf under the sink!" her voice was muffled by the pillow she was holding over her face, but Ginny seemed to understand because two minutes later she was being prodded by the tip of Ginny's wand and a mug full of the burgundy goodness was being thrust into her hands, "Thank you..."</p><p>"Ron's been waiting to blow up at George for a while," said Hermione who lifted Marlene's legs and sat herself down before placing them back in her lap all the while carrying a plate of Marlene's rejected brownies, "These are just brownies, aren't they?"</p><p>Marlene nodded, "Just plain brownies."</p><p>"Fab," Ginny leant over and nabbed one of the burnt ones from the top and popped it onto her tongue, "Harry's been waiting to have a go too, they'll be fine as long as we don't hear any loud bangs."</p><p>"What a wanker," Marlene said suddenly and rather loudly, "Lindsey Warp? Seriously! The one girl I always saw lingering around, the one girl I was ever insecure about, and whenever I brought up the way she flirted with him, he always swore she was just being friendly and that he didn't think anything of her!"</p><p>Hermione and Ginny seemed slightly shocked by Marlene's outburst but supported her anyway by sitting back and listening to her rant while sipping from their mugs of wine.</p><p>"Obviously I knew coming back here things would be different, of course they would be! I've been gone for three fucking years but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be coming back here to see her hanging off of his arm like some sort of peroxide blonde sloth! I knew he was going to move on, I knew it, but with her? Seriously!"</p><p>"I thought Fred told you?" Hermione asked.</p><p>"He told me that he had a girlfriend," Marlene grumbled, "Nothing about it being Lindsey though. It would have been nice to have known beforehand, would have saved me looking like an absolute idiot in front of the girl!"</p><p>"She's done something to him, I tell you," said Ginny while sipping from her mug. Hermione hummed in agreement.</p><p>Marlene raised a curious eyebrow; she knew never to take Ginny's opinion of any of the Weasley boy's girlfriends too seriously because she never seemed to like any of them. Ginny had hated every girl her brothers had ever brought home, most famously Fleur, Bill's now wife of four years, who Ginny had called Phlegm for the longest time and despised the blonde French woman simply because she didn't quite fit in with the Weasleys. The only girls that Marlene could think of that Ginny didn't mind being with her brothers were Hermione and herself, and that was simply because they were her friends. If they weren't then Marlene was sure that Ginny would have been just as cruel as she was to Fleur when she found out that Marlene and George were together.</p><p>"What do you mean?" she asked.</p><p>"He's been acting like a tosspot for months," Ginny spoke first when Hermione seemed to hesitate, "It started when I had my first game with the Harpies last summer and everyone said they would be there. Even Charlie came and you sent a card!"</p><p>"I remember," Marlene nodded. She had sent a congratulations card along with Charlie when she heard the news and when he returned, he had shown the whole camp all of the photos. Marlene had been sure she had seen George in there somewhere but the more she thought about it the more she realised that perhaps she had just seen Fred and looked away too quickly to realise any differently.</p><p>"Well George didn't turn up," Hermione continued Ginny's story, "Made up some bullshit excuse about getting days wrong or something, no idea how when Mrs Weasley sent a reminder owl every morning for a month, but anyway, he's been really snappy with everyone lately. Especially Ron and for no reason! Normally, if I thought maybe that Ron deserved it, I wouldn't mind as much but ever since Ron proposed George has been acting as though he's smelled sour milk every time they've been near each other."</p><p>"And according to Fred he's been missing a lot of days at work too. He's just been leaving in the middle of the night and disappearing for hours on end, going Godric knows where, and not telling Fred so he's been having to work on his own unless he can somehow pull cover from somewhere," Ginny admitted next.</p><p>"Well what about Verity? Isn't she still at the shop?" Marlene asked.</p><p>"She was lovely," Hermione sighed thoughtfully, "But George fired her one day for messing up an owl order. The customer wasn't even angry about it. Fred had just gotten a letter one morning from them saying that they had gotten one wrong item and asked if they could swap the wrong one for the right. Fred wasn't bothered by it, said that it was an honest mistake but George found the letter later and he blew up at her."</p><p>"Fred tried to rehire her but she was too upset about how George had spoken to her and she said that she just couldn't come back," Ginny was seething now and Marlene could tell by the way that the younger girls knuckles were turning white on her mug, Ginny was close to breaking point with her brother, "He then tried to get his precious little Lindsey-Windsy to take Verity's place but that was where Fred drew the line and put his foot down."</p><p>"You mean that was where Penny put her foot down," Hermione corrected with a giggle, "Fred's had no idea what's been going on with George, none of us have and he's starting to worry. We all are. That's why we think she's doing something to him, whether that's a love potion, a spell, we don't know, we just know it's something."</p><p>Marlene, although not delighted to see the man she loved with another woman – especially not the only one she had ever expressed feelings of insecurity over – but George was the one to blame for his attitude, not Lindsey, so she tutted her disapproval.</p><p>"You two can't be serious?" she asked, slightly shocked by their accusations.</p><p>Hermione and Ginny both looked extremely confused at her reaction. They had expected her to think the same, maybe even be just as angry as them, but when they realised that she wasn't, they were bewildered.</p><p>"Trust me," she sighed, "It's George we're talking about. You would know if Lindsey was putting something in his morning tea. He's just in love and caught up in it all, I'm sure he'll even out again soon enough once the honeymoon phase is over. Besides, Lindsey was always kind to everyone in school, I don't really see her brewing a love potion in her spare room just so she can keep George by her side."</p><p>"But he was never like that with you!" Ginny said almost defensively, as if she couldn't believe that Marlene could ever be okay with George and Lindsey being together. She wasn't but she also wasn't about to jump and accuse the poor girl of giving him a love potion!</p><p>"He was happy when he was with you, this seems forced," Hermione agreed but Marlene rolled her eyes, "Don't roll your eyes at me! I may not have been there for most of your actual relationship, but I saw you two at school, during summers, at the wedding! He always wanted to impress you, always sticking up for you even when you weren't there to see it, always asking if you wanted to join him and Fred on their little pranks... it was so obvious to everyone but you just how in love he was with you and I can assure you he was never like this."</p><p>"Not to mention when he got his ear cut off and he would only listen to you," Ginny snorted, "When Mum told him that he looked handsome with his bandage on he laughed but as soon as you said it, well, it was a whole different story wasn't it? Oh Marley said I looked handsome! Marley likes it! Marley thinks I'm cute! And Merlin, do not get me started on how he pined after you at the wedding, it was disgusting! I'm pretty sure he almost disowned Bill for not pairing you with him for the family dance. I want to dance with Marley, Bill! I'm her friend not Charlie."</p><p>Both Marlene and Hermione laughed at Ginny's mocking and for a minute Marlene forgot that Lindsey was even in the picture. It felt like the summers when she was fifteen again and spent every minute she could with the pair of them, giggling late into the night and getting their revenge on Ginny's brothers.</p><p>"It's been a long time since we've been in school though," Marlene finally said through broken laughter, "People change and maybe it's a good thing! Maybe Lindsey is what he needs to steady himself and you two are just pulling another Fleur."</p><p>Again, Ginny and Hermione looked shocked but neither decided to say anything else on the matter. Instead they moved onto other topics, like how Ginny was hoping to be taken off the reserves for the Holyhead Harpies this summer and instead be put on full time because one of the Chasers were retiring, and all of the work Hermione had been doing for House-elves, Goblins and Werewolves at the Ministry. They even somehow managed to loop back around to the other girls' relationships which resulted in a lot more loud giggling and the rest of the wine disappearing mug by mug, without anyone noticing.</p><p>"Boo!" Ginny whined when she went to fill up her own mug again but all that came out was a single, pathetic dribble that had been clinging to the rim of the bottle's neck, "What're we going to do now?"</p><p>"We're going to switch to water!" said Hermione, collecting Marlene and Ginny's empty mugs from their unsuspecting hands. Both gave a whine of annoyance, "It's almost two in the morning and I think we've had plenty to drink tonight!"</p><p>"What happened to my fun Hermione? The Hermione that would stay up all night with us and only get up when my brother bribed her with food?"</p><p>"She died on my twentieth birthday after that bloody three-week hangover!" Hermione cackled from the kitchen.</p><p>It was that moment that Marlene realised just how much she had missed. When she had left, she wasn't even nineteen and now she was turning twenty-two in a few months. None of her friends had had jobs when she left and now, they were all moving up in their careers, Hermione a successful politician, Ginny an amazing Quidditch player, Harry and Ron both outstanding aurors, Fred having a successful business... and there was Marlene, back at square one at her parent's cafe and still filling in the gaps that she had missed with her friends. Not that she never had fun while she was gone, Charlie made sure they were never bored, and the sanctuary was always buzzing with something that gave them plenty to do but she wasn't there to experience it all with the people she had already experienced so much of her life with. She couldn't help but feel that she had missed out on something even though it was her own fault.</p><p>"I think I need a change," she blurted out suddenly.</p><p>Hermione and Ginny both went wide eyes and looked rather giddy at this announcement.</p><p>"What kind of change?" Hermione asked, leaning over the counter and looking quite smug.</p><p>Marlene pushed herself up from the couch and bounced over to the drawers by Hermione, pulling out a large pair of kitchen scissors with thick black handles.</p><p>"Like a haircut."</p><p>Their confidence was falsely fuelled by the wine and other booze they had drank throughout the night and all three of them were more than excited when they crammed themselves into the tiny purple bathroom with the scissors in Hermione's hands.</p><p>"Don't worry, it'll grow back," Ginny said from her spot inside the bath.</p><p>She was laying with her head resting against the foot of the tub while her legs were balanced on either side of the tap. Marlene had to resist every childish urge she had to reach over and turn on the water and soak Ginny. Not that she would have to reach very far, she and Hermione were sardined in between the bath and the toilet, both very close together but it did mean Ginny would have a far too easy time of getting her soggy revenge so Marlene stopped herself.</p><p>"How much do you want off?" asked Hermione, fiddling with the ends of Marlene's hair, "Like an inch?"</p><p>"Let me see them," Marlene twisted her arm over her shoulder and pulled the scissors from Hermione's hand so she could see where she wanted her first cut.</p><p>Marlene stared at her reflection in the mirror, raking her fingers through her hair to try and see what would look best and for a second she barely recognised herself. Before, her long brown hair had never reached past the middle of her back but now almost reached her hips, and the skin across her cheeks had become freckled and tanned from the beginning of the summer sun, her once vibrant green eyes had grown darker as she aged and they were now weighed down by a new addition of heavy purple bags that came from her lack of sleep.</p><p>"How about just to here and we can-" Hermione had had her hand in the middle of Marlene's back where she thought would be a good place to cut but was interrupted by Marlene raising the scissors and cutting off a large chunk for herself.</p><p>"Mar!" Ginny gasped from the bath, "You did it!"</p><p>"I did it," she whispered back and admired the strand that now sat just below her collar bone, "I did it."</p><p>Hermione, not willing to let Marlene do anymore damage, reached around and pulled the scissors away from her trigger-happy friend, "Alright you, let me do it before you end up with an uneven bowl cut.</p><p>After a while of snipping and even more giggling, Hermione snapped at both Ginny and Marlene to be quiet before she accidentally cut Marlene's ear off, Marlene let out a heavy sigh.</p><p>"This is the typical move trope isn't it," she said with a clipped laugh, "Girl sees boy she is hopelessly in love with for the first time in years and sees that he's in love with another woman, so she decides to cut all her hair off... I swear I've watched it a thousand times."</p><p>"Don't they normally cut their hair off before they go on the run, not after?" Ginny asked which resulted in Marlene grabbing a half-empty shampoo bottle from the shelf and launching it at Ginny's head which she blocked with her forearms, "I'm sorry!"</p><p>"I think you're asking the wrong questions here Gin," Hermione said with a smirk, "So you're still in love with George."</p><p>Marlene could feel her cheeks becoming redder by the second.</p><p>"Don't lie to us, remember who still has the scissors in her hands."</p><p>"Of course I am, if I wasn't madly in love with the idiot I wouldn't have left in the first place."</p><p>Hermione and Ginny both began squealing loudly before Ginny all but threw herself out of the tub and flung her arms around the two other girls' shoulders, making all three of them wobble around unsteadily on the tiles, all laughing uncontrollably.</p><p>"Okay! Okay!" Marlene yelled while swatting them away, "Let me go and we can finish cutting my hair so I can wake up with a hangover and cry about how I've completely fucked it up. You can ask your questions about my love life later."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Niffler</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I do not own any of the characters associated with the Harry Potter Franchise, those characters are owned by JK Rowling. The only characters I do own are those of my own invention.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>By the time Monday had rolled around, Marlene had just about worked off the last of the hangover that Saturday night had gifted her. She was close to normal again, now able to look at the lunch Madam Malkin had brought her without feeling the most nauseous she had ever felt and could stand for more than five minutes without having to sit down. The same, however, could not be said for Fred who shuffled through the café's door during his lunch break on Monday afternoon and looked rather worse for wear.</p>
<p>"Merlin Fred, you look like shite," Marlene snorted.</p>
<p>He was paler than usual and was very nearly verging on grey, his hair which had been perfectly combed during the entirety of the previous week when he had visited, was now tousled and hanging limp around his face, and his eyes were surrounded by a deep purple that showed just how tired he actually was.</p>
<p>"Did you even drink any of that tonic I sent you yesterday?" she asked while sliding him a cup of tea over the counter which he took gratefully.</p>
<p>"Yes," he whined, his head was heavy in his hands as he held it in desperation, "But with the amount of times we made it in school I wouldn't be surprised if I developed an immunity to it or something. This headache has not budged since yesterday when I woke up and it feels like it's just getting worse.</p>
<p>Marlene leant over and swept a piece of hair away from his eyes, he looked pathetic, "Did you get any sleep at least?"</p>
<p>Fred took a long sip of his tea and moaned appreciatively into the porcelain before speaking, "No... they've forgotten how to cast Muffilito apparently. It's just his cruel form of revenge, he'll learn to recast it pretty quick once Penny's home later, she won't take any of his shit."</p>
<p>Marlene felt horrible. After she had sent the tonic along with Fred's owl, Otto, she had received a letter back from Fred that afternoon thanking her for the tonic, but also telling her about the argument he, Ron and Harry had had with George after the girls had left. Apparently, it ended with George storming out for the night. Probably to Lindsey's flat.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry he's acting like a child," she sighed, "Do you want my bedroom? I've been sleeping on the couch anyway so your more than welcome to have it, as long as you don't mind the pink walls and frilly bedding that's probably still on there... I haven't actually been in to check."</p>
<p>Fred made his best attempt at a laugh but stopped as soon as his head gave another painful throb and his stomach gave a threatening lurch, "I'm good thanks. Penny will kick him out anyway if he starts his shit again tonight."</p>
<p>"Sounds like my kind of girl."</p>
<p>Fred shot her a nervous look.</p>
<p>"Oh don't look at me like that," Marlene leant over the counter again and pushed his elbow away from under him so his head fell, "Just because I like women doesn't mean that I want every single one I look at. Some of us don't think with our dicks you know."</p>
<p>"You're mean when you're hungover, you know that?" he muttered but laid his head back down on the cool wood, closing his eyes and letting out a content sigh, "Wake me up when my lunch break is over so I can go and reopen the shop."</p>
<p>"Reopen?" Marlene asked, "Why did you close it?"</p>
<p>"Because," he huffed, "My dearest brother decided that today would be a good day to disappear again and I needed a break and there was no one else there to watch it while I was away."</p>
<p>Marlene was starting to see why everyone was so annoyed with George these days. Fred was exhausted, the shop was hectic enough when there was two people running it so how Fred was doing it by himself, hungover, Marlene had no idea.</p>
<p>She let him rest for a while and continued to wipe down tables that didn't really need wiping down anymore and fussed over some of the plants that hung from the beams that ran across the ceiling. Eventually though she had to get him up, it was one o'clock and he needed to get back to work or else the wizarding world might have had its first child riot on its hands.</p>
<p>"Freddie," she hummed softly, rubbing his back, "It's one... work time."</p>
<p>Fred only groaned in response but slowly and begrudgingly, dragged himself up to his tired feet, "Thanks for the nap spot, Queenie."</p>
<p>"My pleasure," Marlene muttered while he gathered his things, "Any idea if George'll be back this afternoon?"</p>
<p>Fred shook his head, "Probably not, he doesn't usually come back until late on days like this... I'll pop back in before Penny gets home and check in with -"</p>
<p>He paused when he saw that Marlene too was gathering her belongings and shrugging on her cardigan over her t-shirt, "Mar, what're you doing?"</p>
<p>"Coming to work with you," she said and poked him in the middle of his chest playfully, "I'm not open yet so I have nothing to do for the rest of the day and you are practically falling asleep on your feet – see!"</p>
<p>Fred's jaw stretched out in a yawn so wide that Marlene swore that she could see what he had had for breakfast that morning.</p>
<p>"You don't have to," he said once his jaw reconnected, "It'll be chaos."</p>
<p>"How bad can it be, it's a Monday," Marlene scoffed, and Fred raised his eyebrows but said nothing to warn her otherwise.</p>
<p>Merlin, Marlene wished he had. As soon as Fred flipped the 'closed' sign that hung in the door of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to 'open' all hell broke loose on the shop floor.</p>
<p>Marlene had only ever been inside the shop once before and it was during the summer before the start of her sixth year at Hogwarts. She had been staying with the Weasley's at the Burrow while her parents were visiting some distant relatives up in Scotland. She had begged Mrs Weasley, along with the rest of those staying that summer, to pay the twins a visit and eventually she gave in to their demands when George wrote to her asking if Marlene was ever going to be let out of Mrs Weasley's sight.</p>
<p>Everything had been just as chaotic then as it was now, the only difference being that now there were a lot more products for people to choose from. The orange walls were covered in posters showing off products, both new and old, each of them bursting with colour and each as eye-catching as the last. Shelves groaned under the weight of the Skiving Snackboxes that had been the start of the twins' journey into entrepreneurship. They were flanked by barrels filled with various types of trick wands and self-help quills, some were built with spell-check charms placed on them but Marlene's favourites were the ones that never ran out of ink. A fountain made of love potions sat proudly in the middle of the shop and was often surrounded by giggling young girls as well as slightly older witches who Marlene caught eyeing Fred rather suspiciously more than once. Occasionally, there would even be a firework or two would shoot across the ceiling and explode in a wonderful waterfall of colour that washed the customers below, covering them in glitter for a few seconds before it all disappeared.</p>
<p>For hours, Marlene dodged out of the way of sprinting children, flitted from one end of the shop to the other to help with demanding customers, providing demonstrations for products that Fred had given her a short brief on as they went along, packing up bags of sweets for the newly introduced pick 'n' mix version of the Skiving Snackboxes that had come through with the rest of the owl orders, all the while trying to keep the chaos somewhat organised until it was time for closing.</p>
<p>"Have a nice evening!" Marlene called out to the last witch who had lingered slightly past closing hours and wagged her fingers seductively at Fred as she went, "Bye!"</p>
<p>"Don't drink that coffee," she said over her shoulder, "That witch just bought a bottle of love potion and I didn't see her leave with it."</p>
<p>Fred gingerly set the mug back down on the counter with a chuckle and a shake of his head, "Wouldn't be the first time. Thanks for your help today, I appreciate it."</p>
<p>"No problem," Marlene grinned, "I actually had fun. Those little snakes and ladders kits you have are funny, the little people do really take a tumble when they fall off the ladders."</p>
<p>Fred nodded in agreement but as he went to speak he let out another wide yawn.</p>
<p>"Go take a nap Fred," Marlene sighed, "I'll tidy up a bit and finish the rest of the owl orders. Penny will be home soon, and if she's still as energetic as I remember her being, you'll need your energy to keep up with her."</p>
<p>Fred tried to argue, saying that it wasn't fair for him to leave her with so much work to do, especially when she had never done any of it before, but conceded when she threatened to hit him with the body-bind curse and drag him up to bed herself if he didn't listen.</p>
<p>The shop was oddly calming when there weren't any screaming children darting around at people's ankles. It was so calming in fact that Marlene found herself drifting off into a world of her own while she wandered around the floor, packing up the last of the owl orders, only stopping to giggle to herself and slip in an extra square or two of fever fudge when she saw a familiar name. Even when not at Hogwarts she enjoyed causing McGonagall a little extra grief. The sounds of the Pygmy Puffs rattling around in their cages like a bunch of colourful, electrocuted pompoms mingled with the occasional squeal of a Firework-Pop flying off its stick in the sweet section and all became blurred, background noise in Marlene's ears.</p>
<p>It wasn't until almost an hour later that Marlene was snapped out of her trance by the sound of the shop bell ringing loudly from above the front door.</p>
<p>'Shit!' she cursed to herself, thinking that she hadn't locked the door properly behind the last witch.</p>
<p>"I'm so sorry!" she said loudly while leaving the stock room, "We're closed, I thought I locked the door, but I must have-"</p>
<p>When Marlene rounded the corner, she was met by the sight of George by the doorframe looking just as tired and just as deflated as Fred had looked that afternoon, and he was fumbling clumsily with his keys. For a brief moment, before he saw her staring, she caught herself admiring him. Specifically, the way his hair had begun to curl slightly at its ends, dropping over his eyes and the pink tinge to his cheeks which made her remember all of those mornings, afternoons, evenings, when they were tucked between sheets, when both of their cheeks had been flushed, and their heart rates were speeding, just as they were now. But they weren't being dizzied by fresh linen and each other's touch anymore. They were strangers now.</p>
<p>"What are you doing here?" His words were heavy and slurred, and his eyes dropped slowly with every blink. He was drunk.</p>
<p>"Helping Fred," she spoke as calmly and as steadily as she could so as not to reveal the memories that were flashing through her mind every time he flexed his fingers or his chest rose and fell with his breath, "You disappeared and he needed a hand, he fell asleep in my café over lunch."</p>
<p>"I had business to take care of," he grunted.</p>
<p>Finally, he left his position from beside the door and headed towards the stock room from where she had just come. Marlene watched him weave through the shop floor, dodging around a large container of the new shipment of bubble-bouncy-balls she had yet to place on their shelf and had to stifle her laughter with the sleeves of her cardigan when he tripped over an abandoned crate of food for the Pygmy Puffs.</p>
<p>"Smooth," her words dripped with sarcasm, "You alright?"</p>
<p>"Fuck sake," he hissed and clutched his ankle, "Who left that there?"</p>
<p>"Me," Marlene gave him a careless shrug, "If you're going to drink a barrel of scotch while you skive off work, at least look where you're walking when you come back."</p>
<p>George continued to glare up at her from the floor, "You care that I've had a drink because?"</p>
<p>"Oh, I don't care if you're pished," Marlene scoffed, "I do care though that you left Fred completely on his own with no warning whatsoever this morning and acted like a horny teenager the night before so he wouldn't get any decent sleep."</p>
<p>George tutted his disapproval, "Fred's fine running the shop on his own."</p>
<p>Taking this as his time to finally get away from Marlene's company, he tried to push himself up from the floor with the help of his hands but his face twisted in agony and he fell on his bum once again as soon as his ankle moved.</p>
<p>"Speaking of the bastard," he croaked, craning his neck around to try and catch a glimpse of his twin hidden somewhere in the shop, "Where is he? He can help me up, Fred! FRED!"</p>
<p>"Fred's asleep!" Marlene swatted him on the shoulder, "I told him to take a nap, he was exhausted and I didn't want Penny coming home to her boyfriend being turned into a zombie."</p>
<p>"Well can you go get him to help me up," the words George spat came more of as a demand than a question and Marlene couldn't help but let anger fog her brain.</p>
<p>"No," she huffed, "I am not waking poor Fred up just because you make poor life choices."</p>
<p>"You know all about those, don't you Marley," he growled mockingly.</p>
<p>George's stare was fierce, and Marlene almost recoiled at the intensity but forced herself to stand her ground. If he wanted to be angry at her then he could, he had every right to be, but she wasn't going to back down from him. She had a right to be angry too. She had tried to explain to him why she had to leave, but he ignored it all, called her selfish and practically packed her bags for her. So, she wasn't about to let him push her around, she had grown up too much to let that happen to herself.</p>
<p>"Listen, I don't like this just as much as you. Trust me. I would much rather be in my flat listening to my music or reading my book or even running my nails down a chalkboard than be here on my own with you, but you are in pain and unless you let me help you, you are going to be sitting on this shop floor for the entire night. I will happily let the Pygmy Puffs keep you company, but I won't be leaving the lights on."</p>
<p>Marlene's heart thundered in her chest, her breath caught in her throat and she felt her anger slowly subsiding while George continued to stare up at her. For a second she could have sworn that she saw a flicker of that same love that used to be there when he looked at her all those years ago, flash across his eyes but he averted his gaze to the floor before she could be sure.</p>
<p>"Fine," he muttered quietly, "Help me up."</p>
<p>Marlene tutted with a small smirk before asking, "Magic word?"</p>
<p>"Are you being serious?" George asked with a clipped laugh but realised that she was in fact being serious when she made no move to help him, "Fine... please help me up."</p>
<p>"See, that's better. I would love to help you George, since you were so polite and all."</p>
<p>Again, Marlene had to try and hold back her laughter while he continued his annoyed grumbling in her ear.</p>
<p>"Merlin you stink," she murmured, "It's worse than being in a brewery."</p>
<p>When she wrapped her arm around his middle and began trying to pull him off of the ground, she was able to smell just how much George had drank that day. Scotch and firewhisky mingled bitterly on his breath which was fanning her cheek and his entire body was damp with sweat and the booze that seeped from his pours.</p>
<p>While they wobbled unsteadily towards the office where the stair way to his flat was George tried to keep most of his weight off of her by leaning on his other foot but every few steps he would lean farther and farther into Marlene's side, making her stomach give an unvoluntary flutter.</p>
<p>"Almost there," she groaned when she felt his weight becoming heavier again when they reached the pick 'n' mix area.</p>
<p>It was then that a loud bang from inside the office made them stop in their tracks. Normally a bang would have been nothing. Bangs went off constantly in the shop, Marlene had heard hundreds just that afternoon, and it seemed that it was more unusual for there not to be banging, but this was different. After the bang came the sounds of boxes falling and chairs scraping along the floor.</p>
<p>"Are you sure Fred's in bed?" George said in a low, boozy whisper.</p>
<p>Marlene nodded, "He was shattered, there isn't a fireplace in there is there? It could be Penny coming home early."</p>
<p>"No, it's just our desks, some paperwork and the stairs. Fred might have woken up."</p>
<p>"Wait here, I'll go look."</p>
<p>Marlene managed to prop George up on the wall outside of the office and waited until he was somewhat steady before pulling her wand from the bun she used to store it.</p>
<p>"You've cut your hair," said George bluntly when he noticed the change in length.</p>
<p>Marlene whipped around and stared at him in disbelief, "Great observations Sherlock, can I get back to potentially catching a thief in the act or do you want to point out that my cardigan is made of wool too?"</p>
<p>"Sherlock?" George asked, ignoring her sarcasm.</p>
<p>Marlene simply shook her head and muttered something about how he should have taken Muggle Studies, and slowly crept closer to the door.</p>
<p>"Hello?" she called out softly, "Is someone in there?"</p>
<p>"They're not going to come out when they think a fairy's whispering to them!" George hissed and hissed again when he accidentally put pressure on his foot. Karma.</p>
<p>"Whoever is in there, come out! I have my wand!" Marlene said firmly this time.</p>
<p>She pointed the tip of her wand at the door, just under the plaque that had 'Mr Weasley' and 'Mr Weasely' carved into it in curved letters, and the door opened with a soft click.</p>
<p>In the middle of the wooden floor, there were two desks pushed together and facing each other and were littered with sheets of scattered, unorganised paper and pieces of unreleased, unfinished products. The walls were wallpapered in old product posters that were just as colourful as the new ones that were hung across the shop, there were pictures of the twins from their opening day, their first sale, their reopening, any major event the shop ever had was all documented on the walls. There were also a few of the first sketches of products stuck up in between it all and if Marlene wasn't so terrified that a potential Death Eater was going to jump out and Avada Kedavra her then she would have thought it was all quite interesting.</p>
<p>"Careful," George called from the hallway when Marlene stepped inside.</p>
<p>Luckily, nothing seemed to be too out of place except for a few boxes that had tipped over but were still sealed so nothing had fallen out of them.</p>
<p>"Anyone in here?" Marlene called out again while checking under the desks, "George there's no one here."</p>
<p>George appeared in the doorway looking as if he was in a fair amount of pain and like he had sobered up significantly in the minute which Marlene had left him, "What'd you mean there's no one here, you heard that noise, there's got to be."</p>
<p>"Well unless they've went upstairs?" Marlene suggested.</p>
<p>"No, we put a barrier charm on there so no one can get up except us and the people we invite in. We were scared some snotty nosed kid might sneak in here or something and go exploring," George shrugged when he saw the look on Marlene's face. He thought it was judgement but she was actually extremely impressed, "They've got to be down here somewh-"</p>
<p>It was then that one of the boxes in the corner that had not yet been knocked over began to shake, tipping from side to side until it eventually fell forwards to land on the floor and the top of the box burst open, sending thousands of tiny multicoloured balls scattering across the floor like Gobstones.</p>
<p>"Marley move!" George shouted, lunging forwards unsteadily and grabbed onto Marlene's hand in an attempt to pull her out of the room in time but his efforts were too slow.</p>
<p>One by one the balls rose into the air, vibrating and then popping like a bunch of tiny balloons. From the balls burst clouds of colour. Pinks and oranges blurred Marlene's vision so that all she could see was the thick, smoky air surrounding her.</p>
<p>"What. The. Fuck." Marlene punctuated every word with a cough.</p>
<p>"Give it a second," George wheezed beside her, his fingers tightening their grip on Marlene's.</p>
<p>Within the minute the air cleared once again and Marlene was left to face George, now covered from the tips of his hair to the points of his shoes in pinks and yellows. His usual ginger hair had now turned a bright neon yellow and his skin a delicious bubble gum pink that made him look like one of the stunned gnomes they painted for fun when they were in hiding.</p>
<p>"Not a word," George growled.</p>
<p>Marlene couldn't help herself though. As much as she tried to hold it in, her giggles burst from her chest and her eyes filled with tears.</p>
<p>"You look ridiculous!"</p>
<p>"You don't look much better," He began to laugh too  and tried wiping his cheek but with no success, "You look like a cornish pixie."</p>
<p>From behind them came another bang. The box that had just unleashed an army of tiny rainbow paintballs was moving, jerking from side to side and began to slide closer through the balls but was unsuccessful in its attempt to reach them when it ran head-first into one of the desks.</p>
<p>Marlene walked cautiously over to the box and flipped it over so she could see what was inside. Staring back at her was a tiny creature that looked something like one of the pink and blue Pygmy Puffs except this thing had a long, platypus like bill, was extremely tiny and had slightly less hair.</p>
<p>"What is it?" George asked from the doorway. He was still trying to wipe off the pigment from his face but it only seemed to be becoming more and more vibrant. </p>
<p>"A Niffler I think?" Marlene reached in and let the creature crawl into the palm of her hand which it seemed to be more than eager to do, "You haven't started selling them, have you?"</p>
<p>"Not that I know of," said George, "Maybe they sell them at the Menagerie."</p>
<p>Marlene used the back of her pointer finger to stroke against the Niffler's head, "You would know if Mrs Wooper had started selling them, they would be everywhere. I think this little guy might be a runaway."</p>
<p>Marlene had seen Nifflers before in Care of Magical Creatures class and had plenty of experience with the little buggers stealing some of her shinier belongings when she was in Belgium. Goblins used to keep them to search for gold but they were found to have quite the gentle nature so more and more people had begun taking them in as pets despite their ability to completely turn a house upside down in search for treasure within five minutes.</p>
<p>For a while George and Marlene debated on what they should do with the tiny creature. Should they try and find its owner? Give it to Mrs Whooper? Let it out into the alley to fend for itself? That had been George's suggestion which was answered by Marlene using her free hand to pick up a piece of an unfinished sample product and her launching it at his head. Finally, they landed on writing to Hagrid to see if he could give it a home when they concluded that he had most likely been abandoned.</p>
<p>"Letter's been sent, the shop has officially been fully tidied, now we just need to wait for Hagrid to-" Marlene's words were halted when she walked into the office, now clear of rainbow bombs, and saw George, sitting on the floor with his legs spread, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, leaning against one of the desks and rolling a galleon around on the floor for the Niffler to chase. There was that involuntary tug again.</p>
<p>"It's just Leprachaun gold," he said when he noticed her staring, "We have it for our unbreakable piggy bank demonstrations... Did Otto take the letter alright? He's a bit iffy with them sometimes."</p>
<p>The still pink and blue Niffler scrambled excitedly across the floor behind the money and caught it in its tiny hands, stuffing it into its little pouch and ran back to George to wait for him to roll another coin.</p>
<p>"Yeah, he did," she whispered and got down on the floor too. George tossed her a couple of coins for her to roll with him, "He is quite cute... how can people abandon them when they are this cute."</p>
<p>"People abandon things they find cute all of the time," George mumbled under his breath.</p>
<p>"George," Marlene whispered, "Please don't."</p>
<p>"Don't what?" he scoffed angrily, "Don't bring up the Erumpent in the room? It's pretty hard to avoid if you ask me but you've obviously been doing pretty good at it."</p>
<p>Marlene stayed quiet and tried to focus on the way that the Niffler's snout dug deep into George's pocket, but George was only focused on Marlene.</p>
<p>"Why are you back here Marley? You've been away for three years, why now?" George's voice grew louder with every syllable. The Niffler beside him backed away and scurried over to where Marlene sat with stinging eyes and an ache worsening in her chest.</p>
<p>"This isn't the first time I've been back George. This is just the first time you happened to catch me before I could decide to leave again."</p>
<p>George looked shocked by this confession and slightly hurt, "What do you mean you've come back before? Why didn't you come and speak to me? Or at least let me see you so I didn't go crazy thinking you were dead!"</p>
<p>Marlene had to take a steadying breath before she started speaking because she was scared that if she didn't she would burst in tears then and there, "I came back for their funeral the first time, my parents I mean, I saw you there with your Dad but after the way things happened when I left I was scared you would still be angry! And who could blame me? You stormed out on me, didn't even care about what I had to say and completely ignored the fact I existed up until I left!"</p>
<p>"That's once," George said bluntly, "When was the next time you came back."</p>
<p>"I apparated to the muggle village near the Burrow..."</p>
<p>It had been a few months since she had left but nothing seemed to have changed. It was dark but she could see that the tiny village library had the same 'Help Wanted' sign in the window and Mrs Howell's fence was just as wonky as it had been when Bill had run into it on Marlene's bike. She walked along the snow-coated pavements and kept her head low and shielded by the snow-flake speckled hood of her travelling cloak. Her boots crunched under the freshly fallen snow but she could hardly hear it over her heart thumping in her chest. She had worked on herself over the months that she had been away and she felt as though she was better, she had gotten control of her nightmares again and she no longer saw the greying faces of the people she loved whenever she closed her eyes.</p>
<p>As she walked farther and farther into the village the sounds of people singing merrily grew louder until she was right outside the Gables pub which the muggles of the village frequented often. Marlene couldn't help but stop and admire the sight of happy people. Everyone was clutching to their neighbour, singing a very slurred and off-tune version of Auld Lang Syne fuelled by the pints that sat in front of them. Marlene could barely see it but she caught a glimpse of the small, boxy TV that was hung above the bar and there was a countdown flashing across the screen. It was New-Years Eve and five seconds to midnight. For a split-second Marlene considered apparating to the Burrow, not caring if a drunk muggle caught sight of her disappearing, and giving George the best new-years kiss he had ever gotten in his life but she realised soon enough that he was not in fact at the Burrow. He was inside the pub next to Fred who was already fervently snogging someone and another girl who Marlene recognised as Jessie, the muggle girl from the corner shop that Marlene often bought cigarettes from when she was fifteen.</p>
<p>The countdown seemed to slow in Marlene's mind and one lasted for forever. As soon as the words 'Happy New Year' flashed across the screen the whole pub erupted in cheers. People began leaning over to their significant others and kissing them giddily, but all Marlene could see was the way that George's hands cupped Jessie's cheeks and pulled her face towards his. Just as their lips brushed, Marlene decided she had seen enough and heartbroken she apparated straight to the gates of the Dragon Sanctuary and headed straight for Charlie.</p>
<p>"You looked happy," Marlene shrugged sadly after finishing her explanation, "What was I supposed to do? Burst into the pub and make you upset again, no. I was going to let you be happy because that was what I wanted for you in the first place when I left. Then when I met Fred for the first time he said that you had a girlfriend, so again, I assumed you were happy. We hadn't spoken and I wanted to tell you I was back when I thought we were ready and that we could talk so we didn't end up like this... barely able to be in the same room as each other without awkwardness or anger but I was wrong. I should have known it would be like this. I was an idiot for thinking otherwise."</p>
<p>"You abandoned me, Marley, I don't think I could ever be happy after that," George's voice was no longer loud or brash but had a slight wobble to it that made Marlene want to crawl over to him and hold him tightly, "I was devasted. For months I looked for you in every crowd, every letter I hoped would have your handwriting on it... but you were never there."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry George," she sighed, "You were the only thing that kept here for so long, but I saw the way that I was hurting you and I couldn't do that to you anymore. You were barely sleeping because you were terrified I was going to have another nightmare and you were pulling away from your family, missing days of work... kind of like you are now."</p>
<p>"Yeah well, Lyndsey and I have been fighting, excuse me for wanting a break." </p>
<p>George absentmindedly rolled another coin for the Niffler.</p>
<p>"I didn't leave because I wanted to leave you, you know..." she said quietly, feeling as though that there was going to be no better time to admit this, "I left because I needed to get better for you. When I said forever in my letters before, I meant it."</p>
<p>"I know."</p>
<p>When he lifted his head, Marlene was surprised to see that he had a regretful smile tugging at his lips.</p>
<p>"You look better now, happier."</p>
<p>"I am," she nodded, "Are you?"</p>
<p>George nodded back although Marlene could tell he wasn't fully telling the truth from the way he refused to look at her and the way he was fiddling with the coin.</p>
<p>Marlene marked that moment as the end of their bitterness towards each other and hoped that one day, they could be friends. She loved George, she always would, but to have him as a friend was better than not having him at all, or worse, to have him hate her.</p>
<p>"Good," she said through a clenched jaw, "And don't worry about your fights with Lyndsey... you love her, and some love is just worth fighting for I guess, even if it is just through petty fights."</p>
<p>George opened his mouth to say something but his words were drowned out by the sound of Fred storming down the stairs.</p>
<p>"Why has Otto just flew into my bedroom and dropped a letter on my face?" his voice echoed loudly off of the walls but when he rounded the corner he burst out into laughter and his anger was gone, "What happened to you two?"</p>
<p>"A Niffler got into the rainbow bombs," George explained, "Is that thing from Hagrid?"</p>
<p>Fred tossed the letter to George so he could read it but by the scratchy handwriting on the front Marlene could immediately tell that it was.</p>
<p>"He says he'll take him, Neville'll come get him in the morning before he goes to work," George grinned, "Hear that buddy, you've bagged yourself a home! A good one too."</p>
<p>George scooped the Niffler into his hands and began to nuzzle his nose against its coat. Marlene watched and felt the lump in her throat grow bigger with every coo. When she looked up she saw Fred staring at her like she was a stray dog that he felt sorry for, in some ways she was grateful for Fred's sympathy, he knew somewhat what she was going through after he had fancied Angelina for so long and she and Katie got together, but in others, she wanted to smack the look off his face because it only made her feel worse. Instead of looking any longer and continuing to feel worse for herself, she averted her gaze back to the Niffler and an idea popped into her head.</p>
<p>"I think I've just come up with the perfect name for the café."</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, what's that?" Fred asked.</p>
<p>"The Niffler."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Late Night Meetings and Invitations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I do not own any of the characters associated with the Harry Potter Franchise, those characters are owned by JK Rowling. The only characters I do own are those of my own invention.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So tell me again," said Ginny from her spot atop the cold metal counter where Marlene was attempting to bake, "Why The Niffler? Why do you want your café named after an animal? Especially one that roots about in the dirt."</p><p>It was Saturday afternoon, five blissful days after Marlene's run-in with George and the Niffler in the back room of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and word had spread fast about their little rendezvous. According to Hermione, Fred had become quite the gossip in Marlene's absence and Marlene had barely left the shop when he sent an owl straight to Ron who then sent an owl to Ginny that same night who then went on to owl Bill and Fleur only an hour later. Marlene retorted by writing to Fred and saying that he was worse than Madam Malkin and that he had to learn to keep his mouth shut, especially when his sister and sister-in-law were so relentless and already knew of Marlene's leftover feelings for George. Nevertheless, by Tuesday afternoon the entire Weasley-Granger-Potter clan knew about it and Marlene was met by a constant barrage of letters carried by increasingly exhausted owls, until finally she wrote back to her rather rude and demanding friends, telling them that they could come over Saturday afternoon and she would answer any of their questions if they would just stop writing to her.</p><p>Of course they had questions, demanding ones that required detailed answers or else they wouldn't be satisfied. They wanted to know exactly what was said, how the conversation even came about in the first place, if they had fought, what was their fight about, did they make up, were they going to get back together, and how did the Niffler even get in there in the first place. Most of these questions Marlene was able to answer with ease and even managed to make it out that it wasn't actually that big of a deal that she and George had spoken despite her stomach exploding with butterflies every time she let herself think about it.</p><p>She hadn't actually seen George since the night of their conversation though. She left very quickly after Fred had made an appearance, feigning tiredness and a need to shower before she became a giant, walking blueberry, and escaped back to her flat where she spent the evening trying to shoot down the butterflies that had begun fluttering in her stomach. However, she couldn't keep them down forever and she did seem to find herself passing by the shop a lot more often on her now daily walks, as well as starting to quite like the streaks of electric blue she had yet to get out of her hair fully.</p><p>"This place is a hidden treasure in my opinion," Marlene shrugged, "We'll see what everyone else thinks once I actually open and I stop just feeding you two and Fred."</p><p>"And when will that be?" Hermione hummed while sucking on her spoon of cake batter.</p><p>Marlene gave another shrug. She had been putting off the grand opening of The Niffler for weeks now and she was running out of excuses to keep it closed. She even had signs now, curtesy of Madam Malkin who had put replica posters of the sign in almost every shop window in the alley, all saying that the shop would be opening soon. Marlene only found out about the posters when she took her walk the day after Madam Malkin had caught her painting on the name of the café in bold, cursive letters across the window, and seen that the Menagerie had a large photo of a teal Niffler holding a golden cookie in its little paws. Now she really had no excuse to keep the café closed for much longer because everyone knew and all she really had to do was open the door.</p><p>"Also, is this actually a café or is it just a bakery because you only seem to be making sweets," said Ginny while digging her spoon into a large bowl of cookie dough that Marlene had set aside so she could add in her special ingredient later, "Not that I'm complaining mind. Gwenog might be though when I go back to training on Tuesday and sees that my robes have cookies stuffed in their pockets."</p><p>"I'm complaining," Muttered Hermione, batter spoon still in hand, "If Ron catches wind of this, I'll never get him out of here. He's already adjusted his morning schedule to give him time to come in before work."</p><p>"You know I'm disastrous at cooking..." Marlene snorted and flicked her wand so that the three spoons balanced on the edges of bowls of various pie filling all began to stir on their own, "You remember the summer before sixth year and I tried to make us all lunch. Poor Fleur almost had a heart attack."</p><p>Hermione and Ginny's faces slowly became more and more horrified by the second as memories of smoke and burnt toast flashed across their memories like bad film flashbacks. All three women gave an uncomfortable shudder.</p><p>"Bill's eyebrows have never been the same..." whispered Ginny.</p><p>"Maybe you're right, you sticking to cookies and pie may be the best option for everyone's safety... and eyebrows," Hermione said with a giggle and Ginny agreed by scooping another spoonful of cookie dough from the bowl and cheers-ing Hermione's spoon.</p><p>"Will you stop eating my merchandise!" Marlene swatted away the younger witches hands, "You're just lucky I haven't put anything in them yet."</p><p>"Oooo," Ginny shimmied her shoulders excitedly, "What's going in these then? More chocolate chips? Nuts? What we thinking? Don't say raisins."</p><p>"A calming draught," Marlene said, "They're for anyone who needs a little extra chill-out time, not to mention they taste a lot better than that vile concoction Madam Pomfrey used to pour down our necks before exam time. Trust me."</p><p>"Are they not what you force-fed Neville before his Herbology exam?" Hermione asked with a small smirk on her lips.</p><p>"The very same."</p><p>The girls stayed and chatted for a while longer in a lazy attempt at pulling any forgotten details about her conversation with George from Marlene before they eventually gave up after she whacked Ginny with the end of her rolling pin for suggesting that they had done more than just innocent chatting in the back room given George's sudden change in demeanour. He was happier apparently and hadn't missed another day of work since.</p><p>"That's probably Penny's doing," Marlene laughed away the blush she felt creeping up onto her cheeks, "Fred may be whipped but I have a feeling she's got George under her thumb too. Not that I blame him for listening to her, I remember Penny being lovely in school, super sweet and the perfect Hufflepuff... but as a Prefect... oof."</p><p>"She wasn't that bad!" Hermione chimed in at her defence with a sour look on her face.</p><p>"You only say that because you were worse than her!" Ginny cackled and threw a rogue chocolate chip which hit Hermione in the middle of her forehead.</p><p>They went back and forth for a while, debating on whether Hermione was actually Percy two-point-oh until they came to the conclusion that no one, in fact, could ever be worse than Percy and that it was getting late which meant that they had to head home. They left after promising to come to visit again soon and forcing Marlene into promising to owl them as soon as possible on the off chance that she spontaneously remembered something about her conversation with George that she had forgoten to tell them.</p><p>Once she watched the tips of Ginny's shoelaces disappear in the cloud of soot that had been kicked up by their use of the Floo, Marlene decided it was time to take her daily walk for fresh air and to pick up some dinner on her way.</p><p>The sun was slowly setting on the alley, casting a burnt orange glow across the rooftops of buildings and creating sharp shadows in the shape of monster claws that spread across the cobbled paths. The few remaining, straggling witches and wizards were being swept out of shops up and down the alley by irritated shopkeepers and spilt out around Marlene, scattering in all different directions and all heading home for the evening. Marlene weaved through them all, occasionally waving to someone cleaning a table or taking out their daily rubbish and managed to escape out into Muggle London with no issues.</p><p>By the time Marlene had returned, Chinese food in hand, the alley was completely silent and there was not a single soul in sight. The only other living creatures that were wandering the paths were the cats that often roamed around looking for scraps but even they were disinterested in Marlene. The most they did to acknowledge her presence was to lift their heads as she passed so they could get a better whiff of the food she was carrying.</p><p>Her footsteps echoed loudly off the stones beneath her feet and the walls that were built up around her. The warm, early-summer-nights breeze tickled at her exposed shoulders and sent trails of goosebumps running all over her body. Marlene loved those types of nights, especially in they alley, although she did try and avoid the slip path that led down into Knockturn Alley – Diagon Alley's slightly darker and less welcoming sister – especially when it got dark. No one truly could know what was hidden in Knockturn Alley and although not many people frequented it as often as they used to before the war, there were still a handful of people who Marlene saw wandering down there to peruse at the dark materials tucked away there almost daily.</p><p>The longer Marlene walked, the more the sun set and by the time she was almost half way home it was almost non-existent except for the few patches of peach that was clinging to the inky darkness that had spilt across the sky. The only light that made sure Marlene was on the right path came from the candles that flickered to life in the lampposts that were dotted around and the odd shop window which still had some light peaking through pulled curtains. The only shop that still let light pour freely onto the alley came from the Weasley's shop.</p><p>Marlene stood by the brightly lit window and admired the display that whirled and spun and sent up puffs of colourful smoke into the air, but her eyes landed on a model of a child's head which opened and closed their mouth, sticking our their tongue to reveal a Rhyming Raspberry sat in the middle of it. 'Rhyming Raspberries – they are one of your five-a-day and will let your words carry you away' the sign next to it flashed red and made Marlene giggle to herself as she imagined a gaggle of students walking around the halls of Hogwarts sounding like they had just come straight from the pages of a Dr Seuss book.</p><p>For a second she debated knocking on the door and letting herself in to say hi and check that both twins were still alive as well as some other, more selfish reasons.</p><p>As well as not seeing George since Monday night, she hadn't seen Fred in the flesh either. He had however decided that it would be a good idea to stick his head through the Floo network at random times in the evening just to startle her and to check that she had actual food to eat and not just reject-treats that she had made. During those rather brief conversations, Marlene managed to learn that since Monday the shop had become busier than ever and that he now had a new fanbase of freshly eleven-year-olds who would be going to Hogwarts in the Autumn and he was beyond excited. He had already given them a stack of prank ideas and he had given them all a discount just so that they would promise to give old Peeves a run for his money. She didn't blame Fred for not coming around more often. By the sound of it, he had his hands full and Penny was home again so he had other things to worry about than Marlene but she was starting to miss him. She had been away for so long and during that time she had hardly allowed herself to miss anybody, but now that she was back and so used to seeing him around her all of the time again, she wanted to make the most of being back with everyone.</p><p>Just as her fingertips brushed against the cool metal of the handle, Marlene was distracted by her name being called from a little way down the alley.</p><p>When she turned back around to see who it was she was able to make out the faces of Lee Jordan and Dean Thomas, two more friends from Hogwarts, and they were getting closer to her.</p><p>"Marlene King!" Lee yelled excitedly, running the rest of the way to her and immediately lifting her off of the ground and into his arms, twirling her around so fast that she didn't have a chance to prepare herself to be dropped back on her feet again, "Look at you! You're here! In the alley!"</p><p>"Well hello to you too!" she laughed when she felt steady again, "That was one way to say hello." </p><p>"You know he was always one for the dramatics," Dean said, nudging his friend with his elbow before hugging Marlene tightly, "I knew it was you from the other end of the alley, I could recognise that smile anywhere."</p><p>"But you couldn't see my smile," she said when she pulled back to see Dean rolling his eyes at her.</p><p>"Fine, it was your arse then."</p><p>Marlene swatted him in the chest and scoffed, "You are something else, Dean Thomas!"</p><p>Suddenly, from beside them, Lee gagged loudly, "Will you two ex-lovebirds stop flirting. It's disgusting. This is why I'm single."</p><p>"Oh shut up," said Dean, "You're just jealous because you only dated like three people in school and somehow I managed to bag one of the prettiest girls in the place."</p><p>"You two haven't changed a bit I see," Marlene said, watching the pair interact.</p><p>Lee had been in the same year as Fred and George and had always been involved in the inner workings of the twins' pranks. He was the man in the chair as Fred and George liked to call him and he was damn good at his job. Somehow he always knew where everyone was at any given time and that was without the Marauder's Map there to help him. He had always been one of the louder Gryffindors, always loved being at the centre of attention with his friends and was always up to something. Dean, on the other hand, had been much quieter and more in the background. Although not shy or timid, Dean kept himself to himself and stuck to his group of friends which Marlene had found herself in for a while during fifth year when the pair briefly dated. He preferred to not be so much in the centre of attention but in the side-lines where he could still be a part of it all but never the one to get the blame if anything ever went wrong or McGonagall burst in to break up one of Gryffindor's infamous parties. He was also the only person that Marlene trusted for a while when she was on the run. She had run into him in a Muggle pub in Leeds and together they set off for a while until they met friends in Ted Tonks, who Marlene had already been acquainted with when she helped get Harry from the Dursleys, and Dirk Cresswell before Marlene decided to split from them and head to the Burrow so it wasn't so suspicious.</p><p>"That's personality-wise," she continued, "You're both all grown up now... jeeze you look so old!"</p><p>Lee gasped and grabbed at his shirt where his heart would be, "We do not!"</p><p>Dean laughed deeply and wrapped his arm around Lee's neck so he could rub his knuckles against Lee's scalp, "She's not wrong about you being old mate, you've got greys coming in Jordan. Don't think those dreads and pretty beads are hiding anything from anyone!"</p><p>"They're from the stress of working with you, dickhead!" Lee yelped and managed to pull himself far enough away from Dean so he could punch him sharply on the top of the arm.</p><p>Marlene grinned, "You two work together?"</p><p>"Unfortunately," Dean sighed sarcastically, "We work for the Wizarding Wireless Network and we have our own show on there, Monday night to Saturday night."</p><p>"We have an office too, down beside the Leaky Cauldron. It's not the best place to have a radio show when a bunch of drunk wizards pile out of there every night but it's home for now..." Lee's excitement was clear by the wide smile on his face and the way his chest swelled with pride as he spoke, "So what have you been up to little wanderer? Last I heard you were in Romania with Charlie Weasley."</p><p>Marlene nodded, "I was, I was there for two years."</p><p>"Speaking of Weasleys," Lee continued, "Fred told me you rejected his invite to dinner the other week... have to say I'm a little offended you didn't jump at the chance to see all of this good looking-ness in person again after so long."</p><p>Lee began shifting positions, gesturing up and down his body so Marlene could admire the way his t-shirt clung to his chest and his chuffed jeans that were rolled above his chunky boots, while Dean simply rolled his eyes. He was too used to Lee's cockiness to even dignify him with a response.</p><p>"Honestly Lee, if I had remembered just how breathtaking you were I would have been there in a heartbeat," Marlene played into his inflating ego, "But I didn't want to risk a run-in with you-know-who and cause a scene. We will have to have a catch up though. I hear Miss Angelina is walking slightly lopsided now from that rock that's weighing down her finger."</p><p>Now it was Lee's turn to roll his eyes, "Don't remind me, I'm pretty sure she's told Dean and I the story of Katie's proposal at least eight times and I don't think I can go through it again... you should have just come. George didn't end up making an appearance but he has had a stick up his arse most of the time these days anyways. A bit of drama might have spiced things up, got him to loosen a little bit."</p><p>"I forgot you two were a thing," said Dean, "I always pegged you to go for someone a little less in your face."</p><p>"And Seamus isn't in your face?" Marlene laughed, "Where is he anyway? Last time I saw you two together you were joint at the hip."</p><p>Dean and Lee both shared an awkward look and Lee coughed uncomfortably.</p><p>"We broke up," said Dean, "In January actually."</p><p>"Oh shit, I'm so sorry I-"</p><p>"It's alright, don't worry about it," Dean rubbed at the back of his neck, "It was pretty amicable. We're still friends."</p><p>Lee scoffed, "Friends who meet up every other night and fuck until sunrise."</p><p>Marlene snorted and watched as Dean's eyes widened.</p><p>"At least I get some, you haven't had any since you and Aimee broke up," Dean tutted, "Unless you count that guy you snogged in the Three Broomsticks and then ran away from because you found out he had a girlfriend."</p><p>Lee grumbled something that Marlene couldn't quite make out but Dean must have heard him loud and clear because the pair began bickering amongst each other. For a moment, Marlene could almost feel the soft fabric of the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room and she could just about smell the smokiness that filled the air when she was snapped out of her nostalgia-fuelled trance and sent flying back into reality by Lee poking her cheek.</p><p>"You've bored her," he said to Dean when he noticed Marlene's glazed expression, "You haven't seen the girl in years and the first thing you do is bore her. Nice one Dino."</p><p>"I'm not bored," Marlene said quickly, "I was just remembering the good old days when you two would go at it in the common room and force everyone to listen to your Quidditch debates. At least here it's only me that's being subjected to you two acting like an old married couple."</p><p>"We do not act like-" Lee began to speak but Dean cut him off.</p><p>"Speaking of Quidditch," he said, his smile broadening, "Have you heard about the World Cup being brought forward a year?"</p><p>"Oh yeah, I've heard," Marlene snorted, "I'm going with the Weasleys. Hermione invited me and Ginny accepted her invite on my behalf so I have no choice, not that I would turn down a chance like that anyway. Are you guys going?"</p><p>Dean nodded, "Yep, we got some tickets from the Network as a gift. Perks of being the favourite show five months running I guess."</p><p>Marlene stayed and chatted with them for another while longer about the upcoming World Cup and taking bets on who they thought was going to win, and about Marlene's café until Marlene realised that her food was most likely getting cold and that she should get back home before it completely froze.</p><p>"Are you not going in to see Fred and George?" Lee asked, gesturing to the door after Marlene said that she better be getting back to her flat.</p><p>Marlene took another look through the glass window on the door and saw that the shop floor was completely empty. Part of her hoped that maybe George had stayed downstairs late and was doing some admin or reorganising or something, anything that would give her a chance to chat to him again. Even if it was only for a minute.</p><p>"Not tonight, I'll see Fred tomorrow," she mumbled.</p><p>After saying her goodbyes to Lee and Dean and promising to give their radio show a listen sometime soon, she headed back off in the direction of the café and went straight up to the flat above.</p><p>Over the weeks she had been back Marlene had gotten used to the silence that greeted her every time she opened the door and had begun to welcome its presence. Every evening, she would either buy dinner from somewhere or attempt to make something she could actually make without burning down the entire building, sit on her couch and she would watch TV until she fell asleep, all in the company of silence. It had become her routine and she had fallen into it with ease.</p><p>Before moving back to Diagon Alley, Marlene had never been one to know what silence truly was because as a child her Mum would always have some sort of music blaring in the kitchen and her Dad could often be found shouting at the football game on the TV, sometimes accompanied by a bewildered Mr Weasley. Even when she went to Hogwarts, Marlene never knew a moment of true silence. Being in Gryffindor meant that there was always someone shouting or a crash going off somewhere in the common room and even during her late-night crawls of the castle under Harry's invisibility cloak or with the twins and their map, the portraits would be chatting amongst themselves or snoring so loudly it was unbelievable that their neighbours still managed to sleep. That was partly why she believed she got on with the Weasley's so well. She was able to tune out their noise which never seemed to cease at the Burrow, even the quieter Weasleys like Percy or Bill were louder than the average person. This prepared her perfectly for when she moved to the Dragon Sanctuary where the noise only increased and she became accustomed to falling asleep to a symphony of Dragons chuffing and drunken men cheering loudly from the dinner tent. So, this silence was a new thing for her but something that she had begun to enjoy.</p><p>Once inside and changed into her pyjamas, Marlene began pottering around the kitchen, pulling out her usual plate and cutlery set when a tapping at the window broke through her silence and made her jump.</p><p>"Merlin, who's sending a letter at this time?" Marlene hissed when she noticed a large barn owl resting on the edge of the flowerbox on the windowsill.</p><p>As soon as Marlene opened the window the owl immediately stuck out its leg so that Marlene could untie the letter that had been attached and gave her an affectionate nip on the fingers before flying off into the star-spotted sky once again. The letter had her name written perfectly in beautiful, looped lettering across the front and had Mrs Weasley's signature looped 'G' at the end of Marlene's name.</p><p>With shaking hands, Marlene used the prongs of her forks to slice open the burgundy seal that held the envelope closed and began reading.</p><p>'Dear Marlene,</p><p>I wanted to write and make sure that you were still coming for dinner tomorrow night. Bill and Fleur are coming and are more than excited for you to meet baby Victoire. She is beautiful, just like her mother and she has just turned one! You all grow up so fast, it terrifies me.</p><p>Speaking of Bill, he sends his apologies for not being there last week, but he and Fleur were in France visiting Fleur's parents for the weekend. He is so excited to see you again, apparently Charlie was sending him updates of all your adventures. I suspect that he's missing the thrills of the tombs in Egypt himself. He will most likely be wanting to hear about all of your own adventures to fill that void but Fatherhood seems to suit him well and he's enjoying it despite not seeing two-headed skeletons every day.</p><p>I'm making my roast chicken that Arthur reminded me that you used to love when you stayed with us, I hope that's alright, and we will most likely be eating out in the garden (weather and gnome permitting). You are more than welcome to come over any time you wish. Fred may force you to come earlier than you would like but if he does just ignore him. There is no rush. We are just all so happy to see your beautiful face around the house again.</p><p>We look forward to seeing you, sweetheart,</p><p>Love always,</p><p>Molly and Arthur'</p><p>Marlene had completely forgotten about Mrs Weasley's invite to dinner. In all fairness she was relatively drunk when she agreed and saw her ex-boyfriend, who she still loved, chewing on the face of another girl only an hour or two later so that sort of took over her thoughts of any potential dinner plans.</p><p>Part of her was ecstatic to see everyone again, all together and under the one roof. Well everyone except Charlie, but still. The Weasley's had been like her family for so long and dinners, when everyone was able to go, were rare, even before she left. However, there was part of her that also really didn't want to go too. If Bill and Fleur were going then that meant George was going to be there too, and if Fred was bringing Penny then that meant, with no uncertainty, that Lindsey would at least be making an appearance.</p><p>For hours Marlene debated writing back to Mrs Weasley and saying that she was coming down with something or that perhaps she had broken her leg – a tad on the dramatic side in her opinion but if it meant that she didn't have to see Lindsey and George canoodling then so be it. She sat with her pen and parchment in her lap, ready to write that she wouldn't be coming but every time she put pen to paper she was filled with the image of Mrs Weasley standing with her wand pointed at an array of pots and pans, already excited about almost all of her children being home for the evening. Including Marlene. So, instead, she swallowed her pride and wrote that she was thrilled to be going and that she would be bringing along a non-cheery dessert.</p><p>Just as she was about to seal up the letter, Marlene's silence was interrupted once more by another tap on her window. This time, however, it came from a very excited Otto who had a letter pinched between his beak and flapping his wings excitedly.</p><p>The letter was from Fred.</p><p>'Penny has to go into work for a while tomorrow afternoon, so I'll pick you up at four for dinner and she'll meet us there.</p><p>~ Fred'.</p><p>"Well at least he's direct I suppose," Marlen sighed to Otto who was too busy cleaning under his wings to pay attention, "Are you up for another trip tonight buddy?"</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Baby's Breath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As usual, I own none of the characters in this story associated with the Harry Potter franchise.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sure enough, Fred was good on his word. As soon as the hands of the clock touched four on Sunday afternoon, Fred stepped out of the ashes of Marlene's fireplace and he had his usual childish grin on his face, except this time he looked slightly more devious and far more excited than he should be.</p><p>"You ready for dinner?" he asked, taking the pie that Marlene had been holding and linking his arm with hers so they could step back into the fireplace together.</p><p>Marlene raised her eyebrows and tutted, "Ask what you really want to ask Weasley, you;re about to burst."</p><p>"Fine" Fred giggled and ducked down so he was right by her ear when he squealed, "Are you excited to see Georgieeeeee? I thought maybe after your little conversation the other night you might be and judging by the fact you're all dressed up-"</p><p>Marlene quickly untangled her arm from his and punched him sharply on the top of his bicep but it seemed to do little to no damage to his attitude because he simply laughed and linked their arms together once again, "Oh stop it, you know you are. Ginny told me what was said in that bathroom you know so don't be a brat because I know all your dirty little secrets."</p><p>"Oh is that so?" Marlene said, turning to look up at him. She knew more about him than he could ever imagine, things that he most likely hoped that no one would ever find out about and if he was wanting a game of who could be most petty then she would certainly win, "Do you want to see me being a brat Weasley, because I can if you want. I could be especially bratty and tell your Mum all about the time in your fifth year when you-"</p><p>But Marlene didn't get time to finish her sentence because in his panic to get her to stop talking, Fred had already called out their destination and they were sent spiralling through clouds of emerald smoke that made Marlene dizzy.</p><p>By the time she had registered that they had in fact stopped moving and they were no longer hurtling past spinning fireplaces, Fred had already abandoned her which gave Marlene no hope for any support from him throughout the evening. Not that she thought he would stick by her anyways. Penny was coming and that meant he was going to be with her for most of his time and that she was going to be sticking out like a sore thumb because she would be the only one there without someone to go home with.</p><p>'Merlin, I miss Charlie,' she thought to herself. He would have sat in the corner with her and they would have shared a bottle of firewhisky to help fuel the jokes they would make about the rest of the couples that floated past them.</p><p>"Marlene, mon amour! 'Ow are you!" the angelic voice of Fleur Weasley rang like music in Marlene's ears, "I 'ave missed you!"</p><p>"Fleur," Marlene sighed the French woman's name with relief, "I've missed you too."</p><p>"You 'ave missed so much," Fleur giggled, "Come! Come meet Victoire, she iz so excited to meet you."</p><p>Fleur had already vanished in a flurry of soft blonde hair and flowy fabric that seemed to send Marlene into a bit of a daze before Marlene realised and she went stumbling clumsily over abandoned welly boots to chase after the woman.</p><p>In the slightly over-grown garden Marlene was greeted by Mrs Weasley and Bill waving to her enthusiastically, along with a giggling little girl who was perched on Bill's ribs.</p><p>"Bill! Marlene iz 'ere, let 'er see 'er niece!" Fleur called out to her husband.</p><p>"Marlene, welcome!" said Mrs Weasley who rushed over to greet Marlene with Bill and Victoire in tow.</p><p>"Hi Mrs Weasley, thanks for having me again," she said to which Mrs Weasley responded by giving Marlene a stern look and reminding her that the door to the Burrow would always be open, "Alright Bill?"</p><p>"Alright King?" Bill grunted back after handing Victoire over to his wife and hooked his arm around Marlene's shoulders, so he was able to tuck her into his side like he always did when she was stood by him. He often did it when she was younger just to mock her height but now it had become their usual greeting whenever they met, "Haven't seen you in a while."</p><p>"Since your last visit to Charlie actually," Marlene poked him in the ribs, "Look at you now though, all grown up and with a baby. Who would've thought?"</p><p>Marlene had thought though. Bill was always made to be a Dad. He was just one of those people who always seemed to get along with babies and young children, perks of being the oldest brother Marlene supposed. Nevertheless, Bill was always drawn to children, always taking the youngest person in a room under his wing, and Marlene had always thought he would make an amazing father one day. Except, now that day had come and he had a little girl of his own, one with soft brown eyes just like his and long wispy blonde hair like Fleur's.</p><p>"Do you want to hold her?" Bill asked, motioning to Victoire, "You haven't met her before, have you?"</p><p>"No I-" Marlene was suddenly cut off by Fleur already putting Victoire into Marlene's arms.</p><p>Marlene had never been good with babies or anyone under the age of eight really. Sometimes mothers would come into the café when Marlene would be at home and helping out so she would try and entertain them to give the women a break. She would make those silly faces she had seen people make at babies to get them to laugh, stick out her tongue, she even tried the stupid games that babies always seemed so enthralled by, but nothing ever worked. Every time she thought she was about to get a smile; a strangled cry would come out instead and they wouldn't stop until Marlene was out of sight.</p><p>"Don't worry," said Fleur, "She 'as a good judge of character. She likes you already, see?"</p><p>At first, Marlene's entire body was stiff. She was terrified of moving even the slightest inch just in case she dropped her and Victoire would shatter into a million tiny pieces. Victoire didn't seem to have this fear, however. She happily began tugging and poking at different pieces of Marlene's face and giggled loudly when she squished Marlene's nose down flat.</p><p>"Relax dear," Mrs Weasley whispered and rested a hand on Marlene's shoulder, "You won't break her, you know? Babies are a lot sturdier than you think."</p><p>Both Fleur and Bill gave reassuring nods at this which also gave Marlene a slight confidence boost. Not enough to move around but just enough to reach up and stop Victoire from giving Marlene's hair a sharp tug.</p><p>"Oh she loves you!" Mrs Weasley cried out, her eyes already welling up with tears, "Just look!"</p><p>"Mum," Bill laughed and rolled his eyes, "Come on you two, let's go sort dinner while we have an extra babysitter on hand."</p><p>"I can help," said Marlene, panicked at the thought of being alone with Victoire, "Fred's here too, he can babysit."</p><p>"What, and 'ave him show 'er 'is little inventions?" Fleur muttered with a smirk, "Ze last time we did that he 'ad her floating from ze ceiling."</p><p>"Just don't let her get your wand, she has a knack for silencing charms!" Bill called over his shoulder while he walked away with his Mother and Wife beside him.</p><p>"Well shit..." Marlene muttered to Victoire who was still completely oblivious to Marlene's panic and was too busy poking at the older witches' temple with her stubby fingers to care, "I don't know who to say good luck to, me or you... I think I'm gonna say me."</p><p>For what felt like forever, Marlene stayed completely stationary, refusing to walk anywhere out of fear of dropping Victoire. Eventually though, much to Victoire's pleasure, Marlene managed to pluck up just enough courage to begin wandering around the garden. She was slow at first, every footstep calculated and precise but after Victoire gave a sharp yank of Marlene's hair and pointed over to a bunch of wildflowers poking through the bushes, Marlene decided that she would be okay. If worst came to worst, Marlene had a knack for using Episkey.</p><p>Marlene had forgotten just how pretty the garden of the Burrow was in the summer months. Of all the places she had been in her lifetime, she did have to admit that the Burrow's garden was one of her favourites. This was especially true on days when the sun would cast a golden glow over the flowers and bushes, making a perfume of sweetness waft through the air and added a sparkle to everything the light touched. She would say it was magic but there was something too pure about it all for it to be so man-made.</p><p>Marlene hadn't expected to enjoy her time out in the garden with Victoire as much as she did. Much like her mother, Victoire had an eye for beauty and for almost an hour she pointed at the most vibrant and beautiful flowers she could find and Marlene would pick them for her until they had enough to fill an entire vase. By the time Victoire had had her fill Marlene was laden with bundles of lavender and bunches of tulips and violets, and even a couple stems of baby's breath that Marlene had spotted growing by the edge of the house. Her favourites.</p><p>"You'd make an excellent florist; you certainly know what you like anyways," Marlene said to Victoire when she sat her down on the grass.</p><p>Another half-hour had passed before Marlene heard anything going on from inside the house. She had been too busy entertaining Victoire by sending tuffs of colourful smoke billowing up into the air and creating weird shapes with it to even think about what was going on inside. She had just managed to make Victoire laugh at a purple sausage-dog when Ron's voice came booming through the air.</p><p>"There's my favourite girl!" he cheered, swooping down to bundle her into his arms.</p><p>"Honestly Ronald," Marlene got to her feet and wiped off some of the grass that had clung to the backs of her bare calves, "You're going to make me blush if you keep complimenting me like that, but you can't be saying those things when Mione is around, she might get the wrong idea about us."</p><p>"I know you have a thing for us Weasleys, Queenie, but I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot stick if I-," Ron laughed and laughed again when Marlene reached down to rip up a clump of grass and flung it at his face, "Oi!"</p><p>"I do not have a thing for Weasley's!"</p><p>"Weren't you the one who had a crush on Bill when we were like fifteen?" Ron snorted, "I just remember a lot of drooling and you following him around like a lost crup. Then there was your little thing with Charlie last year and-"</p><p>Marlene let out a gasp, "You heard about that?"</p><p>"Of course I heard about it!" Ron picked off a piece of grass from Victoire's head, "I saw it more like it, the man had a giant purple bruise on his neck for a week, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out who gave him it after he turned the colour of a beetroot when Ginny mentioned your name."</p><p>Marlene's cheeks were swiftly becoming redder and redder by the second and Victoire seemed to be enjoying her discomfort this time because she began laughing so hard that a puff of blue smoke came out of her left nostril and gave her a periwinkle moustache.</p><p>Without a second thought Ron lifted the bottom of his t-shirt and used the bottom of it to wipe off Victoire's lip and for a second Marlene had thought she'd been hurtled into the future. She had been so used to seeing Ron as her friend, the same young boy who could make her laugh so hard that her sides would hurt and who always left his homework to the last possible second. But now he was standing there, and Marlene saw who he had become while she was away. He was grown up, an adult now, with an adult job, a woman who he loved more than anything in the world and a full future laid out in front of him to take.</p><p>"Mar, you alright?" Ron said gingerly after he noticed how Marlene's face had fallen.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered, "Just getting a little hungry, that's all. Do you want to go in and see how long dinner'll be?"</p><p>Now it was time for Ron's face to fall.</p><p>"Oh my God, what?" Marlene felt herself beginning to panic, "Don't tell me that Fred's burnt something."</p><p>"No, no, nothing's burnt..." Ron gave a nervous laugh "But Mione did send me out here to tell you something."</p><p>Marlene was starting to become frustrated, "I swear Ronald if you don't tell me within the next five seconds I will march in there and-"</p><p>"George and Lindsey are here," Ron blurted out and Marlene's must have shown every ounce of unease that she was feeling because Ron began to speak quickly again, "When we came through the floo, they were right behind us. Fred's in there trying to keep Lindsey busy to give you some time to prepare yourself."</p><p>The pleasant summer air that Marlene had been enjoying had suddenly begun to cause her skin to prickle and she was becoming overwhelmingly hot.</p><p>'Get a grip of yourself, you said you were going to be mature King,' she thought firmly to herself.</p><p>"He said it was better to warn you."</p><p>"Well then," Marlene's voice teetered on the very thin line between sounding overly cheery and on the verge of being slightly unhinged while she twisted her wand into her hair in preparation. She felt as though she was going into battle, "I guess it's time to go and win myself a BAFTA."</p><p>"A Bath-ta?" Ron asked.</p><p>"It's a muggle award thing..."</p><p>Marlene and Ron walked back towards the house together with Ron carrying Victoire and Marlene carrying the thick bouquet of flowers they had acquired and with every step they took closer to the backdoor Marlene could see Ron glancing at her nervously. It was setting her on edge more than the fact that she was about to see George and Lindsey together.</p><p>"You ready?" with his free hand, Ron reached out and gave Marlene's own a reassuring squeeze.</p><p>"I thought you said you wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot stick," she said meekly.</p><p>Ron's laughter was sympathetic and made Marlene feel all the worse.</p><p>"Special circumstances."</p><p>Inside probably wasn't the best place for Ron and Marlene to go. The kitchen was cramped with people leaning over one another, all greeting each other with hugs and high-fives and handshakes which all meant that there was little to no room to move or even breathe really. Harry and Ginny were the first to notice Marlene's appearance and Ginny came barrelling over to Marlene while dragging Harry in tow so they could say their hellos.</p><p>"Have you seen Lindsey yet?" Harry asked while he had Marlene trapped in a hug.</p><p>"No," Marlene let out a nervous laugh that she hoped would seem convincing enough, "I haven't had the time, you and Ginny ambushed me before I could see anyone if I'm honest."</p><p>Ginny was next to give Marlene a hug but before she did, Marlene saw that Ginny had a manic look in her eye that Marlene had only ever seen when she watched Ginny play Quidditch... it was quite unsettling.</p><p>"That witch better watch out or else I really will be dusting off my old bat-bogey hexes."</p><p>In the middle of the room stood Audrey and Percy who were chatting to Bill and Fleur. Both couples looked very animated and every few seconds Aubrey would look down at the ring on her finger and smile.</p><p>Marlene had never known Audrey very well in school. She was a quiet girl, quite plain and Marlene thought that she rather resembled a mouse with her small, pointed nose and big round eyes. It was fitting really since Marlene never did see her much outside of the safety of the library and she often buried herself away in the Slytherin common rooms. She had been in the year below Percy and never socialised much outside of her house but she was incredibly talented with healing magic and had a bit of a wicked streak when needed. She had been the cure to most of Fred and George's injuries that they couldn't go and see Madam Pomfrey for because they had been caused by backfired experiments.</p><p>"Audrey is very Percy isn't she," Ron said when he noticed Marlene looking, "She's too fun for him though, I don't know how she puts up with him all the time."</p><p>Ginny snorted, "Love makes us stupid Ronald, you should know that better than anyone."</p><p>Looking around the room again Marlene spotted Fred by the counter talking to Mrs Weasley and unevenly chopping a bunch of carrots on the cutting board in front of him. He seemed slightly distracted and Mrs Weasley must have noticed that too because she began shooing him away.</p><p>She still hadn't seen George. </p><p>"Thank Merlin," he sighed when he reached Marlene's side.</p><p>Their little corner was becoming very cramped now with the five of them, six including Victoire.</p><p>"I'm sorry if someone gets a doorstep for a carrot but I had to do what I had to do to get out of there. I couldn't listen to Bill go on about Percy's cufflinks for the wedding anymore."</p><p>"S'alright, maybe Ginny will break her jaw on one so she won't be able to say anything snarky to Lindsey tonight," Marlene said in a whisper which earned her a sharp pinch on the ribs from an innocent-looking Ginny, "No need for violence, you know it's true."</p><p>Marlene was just about to open her mouth again and remind everyone of their manners and that she was in fact big and ugly enough to deal with the couple on her own when she saw the woman in question stalking towards them. She looked just as prim and as proper as Marlene had remembered her being in school. Her blonde hair was perfectly curled and there didn't seem to be a single hair on her head out of place. Marlene found herself desperately trying to pluck away any of the straggling blades of grass that had clung to her legs and flatten the static that made her hair stand at odd ends before Lindsey was close enough to notice all of it.</p><p>"Marlene!" Lindsey laughed out Marlene's name as though she was an old friend and not someone who was her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, "I'm so glad you could come. Molly said that she had invited you."</p><p>"She did," Marlene tried to sound as bubbly as Lindsey but instead it came out as more of a pained chuckle, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."</p><p>Merlin she was beginning to wish that she had.</p><p>From behind them, Marlene could hear Ginny and Harry no-so-subtly snickering to each other while Fred and Ron were also doing their best to hold their own laughter in. It wasn't working.</p><p>"I honestly wasn't sure you would have shown up considering how long you've been gone for. I didn't think you'd want to show your face, especially not in front of George, knowing what you did to him," the smile on Lindsey's face faltered for only a mere millisecond but it was long enough for Marlene to see the hint of malice hidden behind it.</p><p>Nevertheless, she decided to ignore it. Perhaps she had imagined it or maybe she was even looking for a reason to dislike Lindsey and the small drop of her smile had been just a twitch of the mouth. She was just being the jealous ex. That was all.</p><p>"I see you've met little Victoire though, isn't she just – ow!"</p><p>Lindsey had reached over to tickle Victoire under the chin with her finger but instead, the little girl had opened her mouth and with no hesitation, bit down onto Lindsey's skin with what few teeth she had.</p><p>Suddenly Marlene had a rush of affection for the girl.</p><p>"She's precious," Marlene beamed and leant over to do the same thing that Lindsey had tried except this time Victoire didn't retaliate by chomping down on Marlene like she was a Cadbury chocolate finger, she squealed in delight which only seemed to fuel Lindsey's displeasure.</p><p>Ron tried his best not to laugh by putting on a forced scowl but the joy in his voice was louder than his pretend anger towards Victoire, "Sorry 'bout that Lindsey, someone must be hungry."</p><p>"She must be," Lindsey laughed falsely and rubbed at her throbbing finger, "Little tyke."</p><p>"She just has a good judge of character," Marlene grinned as she repeated Fleur's words from earlier.</p><p>Harry and Ginny were really struggling to hold in their laughter now. Their faces were turning bright red from their lack of oxygen and Ginny was leaving crescent moon shaped dents in the tops of Harry's arms from how hard she was squeezing him to stop herself from cackling in Lindsey's face.</p><p>"I'm just sorry that we didn't get to speak much the other night," Lindsey shot Ginny and Harry a sharp glare as she continued talking, "I would have loved to have given you the welcome home you deserve but I honestly can't remember much past the taxi home... and well, you know how George is. Always so touchy-feely... always so distracting."</p><p>She let out a high-pitched giggle that quickly silenced Ginny and Harry's own giggling.</p><p>From beside her, Marlene felt Fred beginning to become tense and she could almost felt his annoyance radiating from him.</p><p>"You alright there Freddie?" Marlene asked to try and lighten the mood.</p><p>"Hm?" Fred snapped back into reality, "Oh, yeah, fine, just peachy."</p><p>"Although I do remember you two getting awful cosy the other night," Lindsey's eyes flitted between the pair and her lips curled into a smirk that made Marlene's stomach feel uneasy, "Something going on there? Something between you perhaps?"</p><p>"Between us?" Fred scoffed, "I think you needed glasses Warp because the only thing between Marlene and I is her big head."</p><p>"And I think that's where I'll take my leave before I get insulted again by another Weasley man and my ego gets fully deflated," Marlene took her chance, "Ron, where's Hermione?"</p><p>"Out by the pigs I think."</p><p>"Amazing."</p><p>Marlene took her leave after saying she was going to go and give Hermione a hand with whatever she was doing and headed straight for the front door after abandoning Victoire's flowers on the table. Her head was spinning, and she hadn't realised it but she was struggling to breathe. She hadn't even seen George yet. Why was she so worked up?</p><p>It wasn't until she was half-way down the lane that Marlene realised the fact that she hadn't been breathing and she finally allowed herself to gulp in mouthful after mouthful of the cool, fresh hair. It filled her lungs and eased the painful burning that filled Marlene's chest and the sweet smell of the warm grass managed to distract her senses just enough to stop the world from spinning quite so fast.</p><p>"You haven't even seen George yet," she grumbled angrily to herself, "Sort yourself out, King. You're not a teenager any more."</p><p>After taking a few more breaths and allowing herself to pick up a couple of the prettier wildflowers that poked themselves through the gaps in bushes and sprung up from the grass for Victoire, Marlene continued on her journey down towards the pig pens. The dirt path fell in and out of the sweet shade that the trees created occasionally with their towering shadows and Marlene found herself enjoying the darkened spots more than she usually would. The summer sun was well and truly coming out of its prolonged hibernation and soon it would be the hottest days of the year which meant constant glasses of icy lemonade and an ice-cream or two. Even the pigs were enjoying the small corner of shade that they had in their pen.</p><p>"Alright, ladies, gents," Marlene greeted them with a smile and hopped up onto the wooden slats so she could lean right over and get a clear view of them all, "How are we this fine mid-afternoon?"</p><p>The pigs grunted happily in response.</p><p>"You're all looking positively gorgeous with all your mud," she grinned as one of the smaller pigs trotted out into the sun and fell onto its side so that mud splattered everywhere, "Any chance you lot've seen a girl like me? She has bushy hair, slightly taller than me, most likely fed you a mint or something from her pocket?"</p><p>"Have you really been fraternizing with Dragons for so long that you can't remember how to talk to humans so instead you talk to animals?"</p><p>Still gripping onto the wood with her free hand, Marlene turned around to see that George was standing in front of her and he was holding onto two buckets of crisp red apples. He looked better than the last time she had seen him. He was sober for starters and she could smell the woody smell of his cologne wafting through the air instead of the inside of a brewery which made a nice change. She also noticed that he was wearing one of his old 'Weird Sisters' t-shirts that he always used to wear when they were teenagers and upon further realisation, Marlene saw that it was one of the ones she had been particularly fond of stealing.</p><p>"Pigs tend to be better listeners than humans," Marlene could feel the grin creeping up onto her cheeks, "But they don't give answers very often... Any chance you've seen Miss Granger kicking about, or should we send out a search and rescue before Ronald loses his wits?"</p><p>George let out a snort.</p><p>"She's just coming. She gave me a hand picking some of the apples from the trees down there because Mum had said something about them being ready to fall off and she didn't want them to spoil," he shrugged, "I dunno why she bothered putting that spell on the trees if she didn't want apples so early in the year, but then again, it's Mum, so I don't question much anymore."</p><p>"I don't blame her; I would get impatient for apples that good too."</p><p>Hopping down from her position on the fence, Marlene walked over the dried mud and plucked one of the shinier apples from the top of the pile to clean off on the bottom of her dress so that she could take a bite. From the corner of her eye, she could see how George's gaze followed her movements, from the way she twisted the apple in the fabric to when it pushed past her lips so she could take a loud bite out of the side and let out a hum of satisfaction.</p><p>"Still as good as ever..." she gushed after she finished chewing, "Odds on your mum giving me a few of these for the café? I got some apples from the muggle market that comes into Piccadilly Circus on a Sunday but none of them compares to these."</p><p>"I'm sure she wouldn't mind you taking a couple but if she does, I'd be more than happy to help you smuggle some out of here later," George grinned, "As long as I get first dibs on whatever you make with them."</p><p>Marlene couldn't stop her smile now even if she wanted to. It had spread across her face and she felt her cheeks growing warmer by the second, "As if I have a choice, you were always first to call dibs on my baking. Especially my brownies."</p><p>Now it was George's turn to moan.</p><p>"I honestly think those brownies are the only thing that stopped Fred and me from walking out sooner than we did in seventh year."</p><p>"Were they the only thing?" Marlene's question was quiet, and she wasn't even sure what she meant by it.</p><p>She didn't want to know the answer either. Or maybe she did. She shouldn't have asked. George was staring at her now. Fuck. She should not have asked. She should not have asked!</p><p>To avoid his gaze, Marlene continued to look down and focus on her apple. It was red. A very nice shade of red. Were apples always that red fresh off the tree? Why was there another set of fingers around her apple?</p><p>She watched as her snack slipped from her grip and her eyes went along with it until they landed at George's mouth where the apple sat between his teeth and a large chunk was ripped out of it. There was her answer she guessed. Silence.</p><p>"Have you always had that many freckles?" George asked once he had taken another bite.</p><p>Marlene let out a laugh, "It's probably mud, one of the pigs decided to have a nice splash when I was up on the fence."</p><p>Without a warning to let Marlene prepare herself for what was about to happen, George tossed the remaining apple through the air and into the pigs' pen so that his hand was free to reach up and run his thumb across her skin. The skin on the pad of his thumb was rough against the softness of her cheeks but she didn't mind. She let him focus on gently rubbing off the flecks of mud and kept her gaze trained on the way he was biting the inside of his cheek while he concentrated.</p><p>"If you don't stop doing that you're going to hurt yourself," she whispered and raised her own hand to poke the side of his cheek as a signal for him to stop. He let out a breathy laugh and continued with his work on her other cheek.</p><p>"I don't think I can do much about your dress but that'll do for now," he said in a low voice.</p><p>When Marlene looked down she saw that little specks of mud were splattered against the white fabric.</p><p>"It's alright, maybe it'll just blend in with the little flowers and no one'll notice," she chuckled and continued to look down so that her hair fell across her face and hid the fact that her cheeks were burning scarlet.</p><p>George shuffled somewhat awkwardly once he had realised what he had done, "It's a nice dress."</p><p>"Thanks, I got it in Venice I think?" she commented.</p><p>Why they were still talking about her dress didn't know but she was enjoying his conversation anyway. She was just glad they weren't shouting at each other.</p><p>"So, who are the flowers for?" he asked to fill the silence when he noticed the bunch that she had collected on her walk that were still fisted tightly in her hand.</p><p>"Victoire," she grinned, "We were collecting some in the garden earlier and I thought she might like these ones too. I might not have an eye for beauty like she does but I think they're pretty."</p><p>George only hummed in response, but he reached down and plucked a sprig of baby's breath from the bunch and softly tucked it behind Marlene's ear.</p><p>"They're beautiful."</p><p>George's stare felt like fire against Marlene's skin but for once she didn't mind. How could she when she had missed it so much? Maybe the Burrow was magic after all because she knew that a moment like this would never happen back in Diagon Alley. Not like this anyway. </p><p>"Are you two just going to stand there and let those apples rot or are you actually going to take them back up to the house?"</p><p>Hermione's voice echoed off of the trees and broke their silence. She was walking back up the lane carrying a bucket of apples in one arm and behind her were three more, all filled to the brim and bobbing along in the air.</p><p>"Sorry boss," Marlene yelled back and turned to George, "Here, gimme one of those before the Pied Piper back there gets an attitude."</p><p>George raised an eyebrow and picked up the bucket he had set down to steal her apple, "Are you sure you can handle them? Wouldn't want you pulling anything."</p><p>"I worked with Dragons for two years, I'm sure I can handle a couple of apples you tosspot. Now gimme, I'm hungry and If you don't I have no quarrels about climbing you like one of those trees and taking them for myself."</p><p>"Alright, alright, never knew I was dealing with a squirrel," said George while laughing.</p><p>Once Hermione had finally caught up to them, the trio made their way back up to the house with the other apple buckets in tow. For once, Marlene didn't feel like she was forcing on her smile. Just by listening to George's laughter and being near him, it felt like she was transported back to when she was seventeen again and they were tucked up in secret at Aunt Muriel's house together.</p><p>By the time they had reached the house again, almost everyone was out in the garden and were watching Ron and Fred standing in the middle of the grass with their wands raised and bashing two long tables against each other in mid-air.</p><p>"Get him Ron!" yelled Ginny from her seat on Harry's shoulders.</p><p>"C'mon Fred, did Charlie and I teach you nothing!" Bill's voice boomed and was echoed by the shrill squeals of Victoire who was being lifted into the air by Mr Weasley.</p><p>Even Audrey was getting in on the action by jumping up and down next to Percy while gripping onto his arm. The only people missing were Mrs Weasley, Lindsey and Penny who still hadn't arrived.</p><p>"Come on, lets get these inside so we can come out and cheer them on," Hermione grinned childishly and dashed inside.</p><p>"When did she start encouraging your lots mischief?" Marlene asked while George opened the door for her.</p><p>"I think the ring my brother gave her might've dazzled her a bit too much, ever since then she's gone a bit loopy."</p><p>Marlene thought that it was a fair assessment. Hermione and Ron were made for each other, they were almost complete opposites but for some reason, they just worked and were one of the most stable couples that Marlene had ever met. Despite their differences, they always seemed the exact way to help the other and Marlene was jealous of it.</p><p>"Ah there you all are, I was wondering where you had stumbled off to," Mrs Weasley said with her back to them, she and Lindsey were working side by side at the counter, "Lindsey was just helping me sort the last few bits for the-"</p><p>Mrs Weasley turned to face them.</p><p>"Marlene King, you get that thing out of your hair right now!" Mrs Weasley shrieked after she noticed the way that Marlene's wand was tucked into her hair, "You'll blast your ear off if you're not careful!"</p><p>Marlene gave a small laugh. It reminded her of Mad-Eye Moody, one of the bravest men Marlene had ever met, but he was always the stickler for proper wand storing. He had many a story of someone's butt cheek being blown off by an improperly stored wand and he used it to stuff fear into people's heads. The only difference being that Mad-Eye wouldn't have begun swatting Marlene with a dishtowel like Mrs Weasley was doing.</p><p>"Aww," Hermione giggled from beside Mrs Weasley, "Then she and George would be matching, I think that'd be quite sweet actually. Then they really would be a perfect match."</p><p>Hermione's words were innocent for the first half of a second that they were out of her mouth but she soon realised her mistake when she saw Lindsey stiffen and heard the way the knife she had been holding clattered onto the chopping board.</p><p>It was as if all the air in the kitchen had just been sucked out by a giant vacuum. Lindsey's eyes became like slits and they narrowed in on George and Marlene's arms which were brushing against each other in the cramped space and then in on the flower that was tucked behind Marlene's ear. She looked furious. Beyond it actually and if they weren't in the presence of two of the most powerful witches Marlene had ever met, she was sure that Lindsey would have hexed her right there and then.</p><p>"Did anyone else hear Ron call my name? I think he did, I'll be outside if anyone needs me, Mar, come with me," Hermione stuttered out quickly and abandoned the kitchen for the freedom of the outside while tugging Marlene along behind her.</p><p>"Ginny, never mind, I was wrong!" Marlene called out to the redhead over the noise of wood crashing together above them.</p><p>Ginny looked confused.</p><p>"It's Hermione that needs to break her jaw on one of Fred's carrots tonight, not you."</p>
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